NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
University of California Berkeley
I am an evolutionary biologist and herpetologist. I am fascinated by the processes that generate biodiversity and the evolutionary forces that generate unique traits. I work in remote parts of the world to track-down, develop, and study exceptional natural experiments using cutting-edge genomic methods..
I employ genomic tools to investigate evolutionary relationships, speciation, biogeography, and the genetic basis of traits. This includes the evolutionary processes that generate biodiversity and cause morphological and physiological diversity to develop, as well as linking genotype to phenotype through genome scans, transcriptomics, functional anatomy, and comparative genomics.
I am currently based in Dr. Ian Wang's Lab
Benjamin R. Karin, PhD
About Me.
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and spent much of my time exploring the mountains of California. However, it wasn't until college that I flipped a log to find and hold my first salamander as part of a natural history field course. I have been hooked on biology, and herpetology, ever since.
I have been on eight separate research expeditions to Indonesia and Malaysia. Through this work I have a developed a large and global collaborative network. I am a National Geographic Explorer, member of the IUCN Skink Specialist group, and part of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley.
Education
2023
Ph.D. Integrative Biology
UC Berkeley
Title: The Evolutionary and Biogeographic History of Sulawesi’s Sphenomorphine Skinks
Advisor: Dr. Jimmy A. McGuire
2016
M.S. Biology
Villanova University
Title: Phylogeography and Evolution of Three Species of Eutropis on Borneo
Advisors: Dr. Aaron Bauer and Dr. Todd Jackman
2012
B.A. Integrative Biology
UC Berkeley
Highest Honors and Distinction in General Scholarship