Rob Desalle

Biography

Co-director of the Museum's molecular laboratories and a curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, Rob DeSalle's fields of specialization include molecular evolution, popular genetics, molecular systematics, and developmental biology. His current research has focused on the molecular systematics of the Drosophilidae, a family of flies. In addition, Dr. DeSalle is one of the founders of the Museum's Conservation Genetics Program, which applies studies at the molecular level to the conservation of wildlife and wild lands throughout the world. In 1996, Dr. DeSalle and his colleagues developed a genetic test for caviar that helped gain protection for sturgeon in the Caspian Sea basin under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES.) Dr. DeSalle received his B.A. in biological sciences from the University of Chicago in 1976, and his Ph.D. in 1984 from Washington University. He joined the Museum in 1991. He is an adjunct professor at Columbia University, New York University, and the City University of New York In addition to his research and teaching, Dr. DeSalle co-authored The Science of Jurassic Park and the Lost World (Basic Books, 1997).

Relevant Publications

DeSalle, R., 1999. Epidemic ! The World of Infectious Disease. The New Press, New York.

DeSalle, R. 1999. Epidemic! Natural History: 108: 86-87.

Doukakis P., V.J. Birstein, G.I. Ruban, R. Desalle, 1999. Molecular genetic analysis among subspecies of two Eurasian sturgeon species, Acipenser baerii and A. stellatus. Mol Ecol. 8: S117-27.

Rosenbaum, H.C., R.L. Brownell, M.W. Brown, C. Schaeff, V. Portway, B.N. White, S. Malik, L.A. Pastene, N.J. Patenaude, C.S. Baker, M. Goto, P.B. Best, P.J. Clapham, P. Hamilton, M. Moore, R Payne, V. Rowntree, C.T. Tynan, J.L Bannister, R. Desalle. 2000. World-wide genetic differentiation of eubalaena: questioning the number of right whale species. Mol Ecol. (11):1793-802.

DeSalle, R., G. Giribet and W. Wheeler. 2001. Methods and Tools in Biosciences and Medicine: Techniques in Molecular Evolution and Systematics. New York; Birkhauser-Verlag.(In press).

DeSalle, R., G. Giribet and W. Wheeler. 2001. Molecular Systematics and Evolution: Theory and Practice. New York; Birkhauser-Verlag. (In press). .

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