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Giribet Named Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Cambridge, Mass. - May 3, 2007 - Gonzalo Giribet, an expert on invertebrate biodiversity whose work has solved evolutionary mysteries surrounding species from arachnids to mollusks to centipedes, has been appointed professor of organismic and evolutionary biology in Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, effective Jan. 1, 2007.
Giribet, 36, was previously an associate professor at Harvard. He continues as curator of invertebrate zoology at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology.
"Professor Giribet ranks among the world's leading invertebrate zoologists," says Douglas A. Melton, chair of the FAS Life Sciences Council and Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences at Harvard. "His impressive research on invertebrate biodiversity provides focus and direction to his field, and his unusual breadth and deep curiosity make him a natural leader in evolution and biodiversity. I am delighted that his research and teaching will continue to enrich and enliven Harvard, the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and the Museum of Comparative Zoology."
Through extensive field work, meticulous DNA analysis, and rigorous study of both molecular and morphological data, Giribet studies the evolutionary relationships between species. His work on centipedes and harvestmen -- the group of arachnids more commonly known as daddy longlegs -- has unveiled new species and clarified the structure of these branches of the evolutionary tree.
In addition to resolving longstanding phylogenetic problems among mollusks and rotifers, Giribet's research has demonstrated how geological and biological processes have shaped the current distribution of species and how population-level processes create genetic variation across individual species.
Giribet's ongoing study of the phylogeny of protostomes -- a broad class of animals including mollusks, annelids, and arthropods -- has produced important insights into this major branch of animals' evolutionary tree. His work has illuminated how insects are related to other arthropods, how the neuroanatomical development of sea spiders illuminates early arthropod evolution, and how smaller phyla fit into protostome diversity.
As curator of invertebrate zoology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Giribet directs the activities of roughly a dozen staffers and researchers. He has supported efforts to digitize records, to promote MCZ programs in molecular systematics and DNA sequencing, and to engage the public through the opening last fall of a new "Arthropods: Creatures that Rule" exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Additionally, in 2002 Giribet received the Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award from the Graduate Student Council of Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
A native Spaniard, Giribet received his B.A. in biology in 1993 and his Ph.D. in animal biology in 1997, both from the Universitat de Barcelona. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the American Museum of Natural History from 1997 to 1999, before joining Harvard as an assistant professor in 2000 and being named associate professor in 2004.
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