April 18, 2019, by admin

We would like to welcome Dr. J. Andrés López to Sitka as our Scientist in Residency Fellow for April & May 2019. Dr. López is an ichthyologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) where he holds joint appointments as Associate Professor for the College of Fisheries and Ocean Science of Fisheries and as curator of the fish and marine invertebrate collections for the University of Alaska Museum.

Andrés has a Master of Science degree in Fisheries from the University of Washington and a doctoral degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Iowa State University. Andrés primary research interests center on the evolution of fish diversity with particular emphasis on the timing and pattern of diversification of freshwater fish groups. To understand fish evolution, Andrés and his collaborators most commonly use genetic data to reveal evidence of past and ongoing relationships between groups, species or populations of fishes.

Over the past 10 years at the University of Alaska Museum, Andrés has overseen the growth of fish and marine invertebrate research collections through collaborative relationships with state and federal agencies, as well as the integration of a historically important research collection previously maintained at the Auke Bay Laboratories in Juneau.

As a teacher and biologist, Andrés enjoys sharing stories of the rich and complex history of fish evolution and of the cultural and technological developments that shape our ability to understand the evolutionary process. While in Sitka Andres will be giving a Natural History Seminar Series talk titled “A Glimpse into Alaska’s Hidden Freshwater Fish Biodiversity”. The talk will be given on Thursday April 25^th, 7:30pm at the UAS room 229.

Andrés will be in Sitka from April 18^th to May 20^th. You can hear him on the KCAW radio morning interview at 8:15am on April 22^nd. He will also be visiting classrooms at Pacific High School, Sitka High School, and Mt. Edgecumbe High School. Dates and times for other events will be posted on the Sitka Sound Science Center website and social media.