David P. Mindell is an American

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life for ...

and author. He is currently a senior researcher at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Mindell's work is focused on the systematics, conservation and

molecular evolution Molecular evolution is the process of change in the sequence composition of cellular molecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins across generations. The field of molecular evolution uses principles of evolutionary biology and population genetics ...

of birds, especially

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators ...

. He is known for his 2006 book, ''The Evolving World'' in which he explained, for the general public, how evolution applies to everyday life. From 1994 to 2008 Mindell was Professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and Curator of birds at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He served as Dean of Science and Harry & Diana Hind Chair at the California Academy of Sciences between 2008 and 2011, and was Program Director in the Division of

Environmental Biology Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...

at the US

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

during 2012 to 2016.

Biography

Mindell was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, where he attended

Nichols School Nichols School is a private, non-denominational, co-educational college- preparatory day school in Buffalo, New York, United States. The average enrollment is 570 students with an average Upper School grade/class size of 98 students. The average ...

. He received a B.S. degree from

Prescott College Prescott College is a private college in Prescott, Arizona. History In 1965, the Ford Foundation brought together a group of educators from around the United States. Prescott College was the result of this gathering. The college was originall ...

in 1975, and a Ph.D. degree from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

in 1986. He was a post-doctoral fellow at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

between 1987 and 1989, after which he joined the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

as an assistant professor. In 1994, Mindell joined the University of Michigan where he taught evolutionary biology and served as professor and curator of birds. In 1998, he was appointed as the director of Genomic Diversity Laboratory at the Museum of Zoology, and in 2003, he was appointed the director of Museum of Zoology. In 2006, he was awarded the Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University, where he conducted research on variable rates of evolutionary change across genes and organisms. He was elected to serve as the president of Society of Systematic Biology in 2011.

Research

Mindell’s research focuses on evolutionary biology, and specifically the evolution and molecular systematics of birds. He has conducted comprehensive analyses of the systematics of diurnal birds of prey (

hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

vultures A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and So ...

) in the orders

Accipitriformes The Accipitriformes (; from Latin ''accipiter''/''accipitri-'' "hawk", and New Latin ''-formes'' "having the form of") are an order of birds that includes most of the diurnal birds of prey, including hawks, eagles, vultures, and kites, but not f ...

Falconiformes The order Falconiformes () is represented by the extant family Falconidae (falcons and caracaras) and a handful of enigmatic Paleogene species. Traditionally, the other bird of prey families Cathartidae (New World vultures and condors), Sagitt ...

and

Cathartiformes The order Cathartiformes of raptors or birds of prey includes the New World vultures and the now-extinct Teratornithidae. These raptors are classified by most taxonomic authorities in the order Accipitriformes (which includes the eagles and hawk ...

. His work, funded by both

U.S. National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

and

The Peregrine Fund The Peregrine Fund (named after the bird of prey of the same name the peregrine falcon) is a non-profit organization founded in 1970 that conserves threatened and endangered birds of prey worldwide. The successful recovery of the peregrine falco ...

, includes assessment of the genetic distinctiveness and diversity of many poorly known groups of diurnal raptors, and resolution of taxonomic uncertainties.

Publications

Selected articles

* Ribosomal RNA in vertebrates: evolution and phylogenetic applications. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. (1990) * Substitution bias, weighting of DNA sequence evolution, and the phylogenetic position of Fea's viper. Systematic Biology. (1993) * Multiple independent origins of mitochondrial gene order in birds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (1998) * Interordinal relationships of birds and other reptiles based on whole mitochondrial genomes. Systematic Biology. (1999) * Primers for a PCR-based approach to mitochondrial genome sequencing in birds and other vertebrates. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution. (1999) * Homology evolving. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. (2001) * Phylogenetic relationships among modern birds (Neornithes): towards an avian tree of life. Oxford University Press. (2004) * Strong mitochondrial DNA support for a Cretaceous origin of modern avian lineages. BMC biology. (2008) * Approaching a state shift in Earth’s biosphere. Nature. (2012) * The tree of life: metaphor, model and heuristic device. Systematic Biology. (2013) * Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds. Science. (2014) *

Comparative genomics Comparative genomics is a field of biological research in which the genomic features of different organisms are compared. The genomic features may include the DNA sequence, genes, gene order, regulatory sequences, and other genomic structural lan ...

reveals insights into avian genome evolution and adaptation. Science. (2014) * Rapid diversification of falcons due to expansion of open habitats in the Late Miocene. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. (2015) * Phylogeny, taxonomy and geographic diversity of diurnal raptors: Falconiformes, Accipitriformes and Cathartiformes. Birds of Prey: Biology and Conservation in the XXI Century. (2018) * Genome-wide diversity in the California condor tracks its prehistoric abundance and decline. Current Biology. (2021)

Books

* ''Avian Molecular Evolution and Systematics'' (1997) * ''The Evolving World: Evolution in Everyday Life''. (2007) * ''The Theory of Evolution: Principles, Concepts and Assumptions''. (2020) * ''The Network of Life: A New View of Evolution'' (2024)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mindell, David Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American biologists American evolutionary biologists Prescott College alumni Brigham Young University alumni Radcliffe fellows