Frederick H. Sheldon

Curriculum Vitae

FREDERICK H. SHELDON

Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Sciences

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803

tel. (225) 578-2887, fax (225) 578-3075

email fsheld@ LSU.edu

Personal

Birth: 14 December 1951; Hoersching, Austria (U.S. citizen)

Education

Yale University: Ph.D. Biology, 1986; M.S. Biology, 1981; B.S. Geology & Geophysics, 1974

Professional History

Professor: LSU Department of Biological Sciences; 2007 - present

George H. Lowery, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Natural Science: LSU; 2005 - present

Director: LSU Museum of Natural Science; 2001 - 2013

Curator of Genetic Resources: LSU Museum of Natural Science; 2000 – present

Adjunct Professor: LSU Department of Biological Sciences; 2000 - 2007

Associate Curator and Adjunct Associate Professor: LSU; 1994 - 2000

Assist. then Assoc. Curator of Birds: Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia; 1987 - 1993

Adjunct Professor: Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania; 1991 - 1993

Visiting Lecturer: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Sabah; 1989

Assistant Research Professor: San Francisco State University; 1986 - 1987

Graduate Student: Yale University; 1984 - 1986

Director: Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology's Field Program, Malaysia; 1981 - 1983

Graduate Student: Yale University; 1978 - 1980

Field Ornithologist: Australia, Borneo, and India for Yale University; 1976 - 1978

Microbiology Laboratory Technician: New York University; 1975 - 1976

House Painter: New Jersey; 1974-1975.

Service

American Ornithologists’ Union: Vice President, 2002–2003; Treasurer, 1993-2000; Managing Board, The Birds of North America, 1994-2003; Committees: Development (chair), 2003–2004; Student Awards, 2002–2003; Finance, 1993–2003; Publications, 2001–2003; NAOC Sci. Program, 2002

Associate Editorships: The Auk, 1999-2003, 2013-present; Condor, 2008–2013; Raffles Bull. Zoology, 2000–2010

Baton Rouge Audubon Society: Treasurer, 2002–2005; Membership Chair, 1996–2000; Board, 1995–2000, 2002–2005

International Ornithological Committee: Finance Committee Member, 1999–2001

LSU: Council on Research 2016-present; Department of Biological Sciences Promotion and Tenure Committee 2013-present; Goldwater Scholarship Selection Committee, 2005–2014; Faculty Senate, 2005–2011; Summer Reading Program Committee, 2007; Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, 2006; Assistant Director of the Museum of Natural Science, 1999–2001; Coordinator of Interdepartmental Studies in Systematics and Evolutionary Biology, 1995–2001

National Science Foundation, panels: collections; dissertations; POWRE; systematic biology

National Center for Biotechnology Information: Genbank Taxonomy Advisory Panel, 1995

Ornithological Societies of North America, Committees: Contracts, 2003 - 2004. Managing, 1993–2000

The Peregrine Fund Southeast Asia Project: Advisory Committee, 1995

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology: International Advisory Committee, 2010-present.

Research Interests

Evolution, systematics, and ecology of birds. In particular, the use of molecular and ecological methods to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Southeast Asian birds

Ph.D. Dissertation

"A Study of the Evolution and Phylogeny of Herons (Ardeidae) using DNA-DNA Hybridization." Advisor: C.G. Sibley

Honors

American Ornithologists’ Union: Vice President (2002), Fellow (1997), Elective Member (1991).

International Ornithological Congress: Plenary speaker (2014)

LSU: Endowed professorship (2005), Alpha Lambda Delta Freshman Teaching Award (2009, 2011), Tiger Athletic Association Faculty Teaching Award nominations 2005, 2009.

Yale University: John Spangler Nicholas Prize for the outstanding doctoral thesis in the Department of Biological Sciences (1986).

Royal Institute of Scientists: Fellow (2014)

Yale Alumni Schools Committee: Most outstanding member 2013-14

Grants

NSF DEB 1241059: Martin, T.E., R.C. Fleischer, E.S. Martinsen, R.G. Moyle, and F.H. Sheldon. Dimensions: Collaborative Research: Historical and contemporary influences on elevational distributions and biodiversity tested in tropical Asia. $2,000,000 ($330,378 to LSU). 2012–2017.

NSF DEB 1241059: Brumfield, R.T., F. H. Sheldon, E.P. Derryberry, R.G. Moyle, and J. Cracraft. Collaborative research: Systematics of a pantropical diversification: the suboscine passerine birds. $712,271 ($363,179 to LSU). 2012-2016.

National Geographic Society 8753-10: Sheldon, F.H., M.A. Rahman, and R.G. Moyle. Biogeography of birds in the lowlands and mountains of Borneo. $19,500. 2010-2011.

Coypu Foundation: Remsen, J.V., R.T. Brumfield, and F.H. Sheldon. Winter bird atlas survey of remote areas in Louisiana. $5,400. July 2009.

National Park Service: Sheldon, F.H. Natural History Backlog Cataloging. $50,000. September 2008 – September 2010.

Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund: Styring, A.R., and F.H. Sheldon. Bornean Bird Conservation. $7,800. May 2007.

I.W. and C. B. Pennington Foundation: Warny, S.B., and F.H. Sheldon. Installation of audiovisual equipment in the exhibit halls of the LSU Museum of Natural Science to improve the quality of public programming. $14,852. July 2006.

Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Program, Louisiana State Fish & Game: D. Prowell, D. Hendricks, J. Coulson, M. Crago, F. Sheldon, and J. Cecil, Designating Important Bird Areas in Louisiana. $216,400. January 2005 – January 2008.

LSU Council on Research, Faculty Research Grant: F. H. Sheldon. Population and conservation genetics of birds in east Malaysia (Borneo). $10,000. July 2004.

I.W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation: Warny, S.B., and F.H. Sheldon. New exhibit at the Museum of Natural Science: A tool to improve science education in the greater BatonRouge area. $10,000. June 2004.

NSF: Brumfield, R.T., C.C. Austin, M.S. Hafner, and F.H. Sheldon. An automated capillary sequencer for systematics, population genetics, genomics, and molecular ecology. May 2004. $126,481

Louisiana Board of Regents Enhancement: Warny, S.B., and F.H. Sheldon. A century of earth science discoveries in Antarctica: a tool to improve and promote earth sciences for college graduates and K-12 education. $70,000. April 2004.

I.W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation: Warny, S.B., and F.H. Sheldon. New exhibit at the Museum of Natural Science: A tool to improve science education in the greater BatonRouge area. $16,000. November 2003.

NSF DEB-0228688: Hackett, S.J., W.S. Moore, F.H. Sheldon, M.J. Braun, R.T. Kimball, E.L. Braun, D.W. Steadman. Early Bird: A collaborative project to resolve the deep nodes of avian phylogeny. $2,020,000 ($269,481 to LSU). September 2002 – September 2008.

NSF DEB-0138577: Sheldon, F.H., and J.A. McGuire. Upgrading the LSU collection of herpetological genetic resources to liquid nitrogen storage. $196,620. April 2002 – March 2007.

Coypu Foundation: Remsen, J.V., and F.H. Sheldon. Research Expeditions to the Tropics: Sabah and Peru. $79,175. January 2002.

LSU Student Technology Grant: Sheldon, F.H., J.A. McGuire, and M.J. Babin. Natural science in the 21st century: Enhancing the Museum of Natural Science instructional lab for student scientific and technological literacy. $26,709. March 2001.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: McCracken, K.G., F.H. Sheldon, and W.P. Johnson. Molecular population genetics of the Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula): Analysis of geographic structure and subdivision of potential isolate populations inhabiting the central Gulf coast and Florida. $9,851. March – June 1999.

NSF DEB-9419909: Sheldon, F.H., and M.S. Hafner. Support for the Collection of Genetic Resources, Louisiana State University Museum of Natural History. $136,802. April 1995 - October 2001

NSF BSR-9207991: Gill, F.B., and F.H. Sheldon. Phylogenetic relationships among seed-caching birds with extraordinary spatial memory. $209,886. July 1992 - January 1996

Pew Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship Program in Systematic Biology: Sheldon, F.H. Training grants for undergraduate students in systematic biology. $50,000. 1992 - 1994

NSF BSR-9020183: Sheldon, F.H. DNA hybridization comparison of mitochondrial versus nuclear DNA evolution in birds. $152,251. Feb. 1991 - Feb. 1993

NSF BSR-8806890.1 (REU Supplement): Sheldon, F.H. Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA hybridization and swallow systematics. $10,900. June - Dec. 1990

National Geographic Society 4099-89: Sheldon, F. H.. Sunda zoogeography I: The distribution and relationships of some Sabahan vertebrates. $5,800. May - July 1989

NSF BSR-8806890: Sheldon, F.H. Properties and capabilities of DNA-DNA hybridization as a systematic method in ornithology. $86,859. Oct. 1988 - Apr. 1991

Students’ NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants

NSF DEB-0206722: Sheldon, F.H. and C. C. Witt. Exploring the temporal and geographical origins of Neotropical diversity: Comparison of 32 superspecies groups in the avian families Galbulidae and Bucconidae. $6,500. July 2002 – July 2004

NSF DEB-0104919: Sheldon, F.H., and J. Weckstein. A cophylogenetic analysis of avian hosts and their parasites: Toucans (Aves: Piciformes) and chewing lice (Insecta: Pthiraptera). $8,067. July 2001 – July 2003

Foreign Field Work (number of expeditions, total time in the field)

Led expeditions to Australia (2 trips, 1.5 years), Borneo (20 trips, 5 years), Cameroon (1 trip, 1 month), and India (1 trip, 6 months); participated in collecting expeditions to Dominican Republic (1 trip, 2 weeks), Ecuador (1 trip, 1 month), Greece (1 trip, 1 month), and South Africa (1 trip, 1 month)

Teaching

3-hour courses: Biology for Science Majors I (BIOL 1201) 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016; Undergraduate Research in Biological Sciences (BIOL 3999) 2006; Systematic Biology (BIOL 7111) 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013; Independent Readings in Biological Sciences (BIOL 7995) 2007; Molecular Evolution (BIOL 7800) 1995, 1997, 1999.

1-hour seminars: Systematic Biology (BIOL 7938) 1994; Historical Ecology (BIOL 7800 & 7938) 1996, 1999; Molecular Evolution (BIOL 7946) 1996, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005; Biogeography (BIOL 7939 & 7901) 1997, 2014; Molecular Systematics (BIOL 7938) 1997, 2002; Animal Hybrids (BIOL 7938) 1998; Curatorial Methods (BIOL 7800) 2015.

Graduate Students and Postdocs

Farah Shafawati Mohd Taib. Ph.D. 2015. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Banggi. Visiting graduate student, 2013. Ecology of birds in disturbed forest. Current position: Senior Lecturer, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Banggi, Selangor, Malaysia.

Dency Flenny anak Augustine Gawin. Ph.D. 2014. Population Genetic and Hybridization Studies of Three Bornean Bird Species- Mountain Black-eye (Chlorocharis emiliae), White-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus), and Oriental Magpie-Robin (Copsychus saularis). Current position: Lecturer, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Haw Chuan Lim. Ph.D. 2010. Evolutionary Dynamics of Bird Populations in Southeast Asia. Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

Ben D. Marks. Ph.D. 2008. Avian diversification in the Afrotropics. Current position: Collection Manager, Field Museum, Chicago, IL.

Cheryl L. Haines. M.S. 2007. Comparative phylogeography of four montane bird species in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Current position: Ph.D. Student, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN.

Fabio S. Raposo Amaral. Ph.D. 2008. Universidade de São Paulo. Visiting graduate student, 2006. Molecular phylogenetics of Neotropical raptorial birds. Current position: Tenure track faculty, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Fasheng Zou. Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2005. Phylogeography of Sino-Indian birds. Current position: Director, South China Institute of Endangered Animals, Guangzhou, China.

M. Josephine Babin. M.S. 2005. Geographic variation and speciation in rough-winged swallows (Aves: Hirundinidae: Stegidopteryx). Current position: Biomedical Technologist, Los Angeles, CA.

Christopher Witt. Ph.D. 2004. Rates of Molecular Evolution and Their Application to Neotropical Avian Biogeography. Current position: Associate Professor, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM. (Co-advised with J.V. Remsen.)

Jason Weckstein, Ph.D. 2003. Systematics and cophylogenetics of toucans and their associated chewing lice. Current position: Assistant Professor/Curator, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel, Philadelphia, PA.

Alex Aleixo. Ph.D. 2002. LSU. Molecular systematics, phylogeography, and population genetics of Xiphorhynchus (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae) in the Amazon basin. Current position: Curator, Goeldi Museum, Brazil. (Co-advised with J.V. Remsen.)

Robert G. Moyle. Ph.D. 2002. LSU. Molecular systematics of barbets and trogons: pantropical biogeography, African speciation, and issues in phylogenetic inference. Current position: Associate Professor, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.

Heather McGuire. Ph.D. 2001. LSU. Evaluating the taxonomic status of the Great White Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis) using morphological, behavioral and genetic evidence. Current position: Associate Professor, Chowan University, Murfreesboro, NC. (Co-advised with F. Rohwer.)

Vanessa Bolman. M.S. 2001. LSU. Phylogenetic information and rates of evolution in anonymous segments of heron nuclear DNA. Current position: Medical Clinician, Houma, Louisiana.

Kwai Hin Han. Ph.D. 2000. LSU. Phylogeny and biogeography of tree shrews (Scandentia: Tupaiidae). Current position: Program Officer, WWF-Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

Kevin G. McCracken. Ph.D. 1999. LSU. Dissertation: Systematics, ecology, and social biology of the Musk Duck (Biziura lobata) of Australia. Current position: Endowed Associate Professor, University of Miami, Miami, FL. (Co-advised with A. Afton.)

Jeremy Kirchman. M.S. 1997. LSU. Thesis: Population genetics of the Cave Swallow species complex: Historical analysis of geographic variation. Current position: Curator of Ornithology, New York State Natural History Museum, Albany, NY.

Beth Slikas. Ph.D. 1996. University of Pennsylvania. Dissertation: Phylogeny of the avian family Ciconiidae (storks) based on cytochrome b and DNA hybridization data. Current position: Laboratory Manager, Woods Hole, MA. (Co-advised with F. Gill.)

Linda A. Whittingham. Postdoctoral Fellow 1994 – 1996, LSU Molecular Evolution Group. Current position: Professor, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, WI.

Current Ph.D. Students: Clare E. Brown, molecular genetics of bird migration; Ryan Burner, community ecology of Bornean birds; Vivien Chua, biogeography of Bornean mountain birds; Subir Shakya, molecular genetics of bird coloration.

Professional Associations

American Ornithologists' Union, British Ornithologists' Club, Cooper Ornithological Society, Oriental Bird Club, Society for the Study of Evolution, Society of Systematic Biologists, Wilson Ornithological Society.

Journal Article Reviews

The Auk, Australian Journal of Zoology, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Biodiversitas, Biodiversity and Conservation, Biological Conservation, Biotropica, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, The Condor, Conservation Biology, Conservation Genetics, Current Zoology, Ecology and Evolution, The Emu, Evolution, Folia Zoologica, Forktail, The Ibis, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Heredity, Malacologia, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Molecular Ecology, Journal of Avian Biology, Journal of Biogeography, Journal of Biosciences, Journal of Field Ornithology, Journal of Molecular Evolution, Journal of Tropical Agriculture, Landscape and Urban Planning, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Ornitologia Neotropical, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Public Library of Science (Biology), The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Restoration Ecology, Sabah Society Journal, Science, Systematic Biology, Zoological Science, Zoologica Scripta, Zoologische Verhandelingen Leiden, and Zootaxa.

Book Previews

San Diego Zoo, ZooBooks, 1989; Oxford University Press, 1994, 1995

Symposia Organized

1996.  Mardi Gras Symposium in Systematics and Evolutionary Biology. A one-day symposium under the auspices of LSU's Interdepartmental Studies in Systematics and Evolutionary Biology featuring talks by 10 nationally prominent experts in systematics data analysis.

1994.  Sheldon, F.H., and D.W. Winkler. Phylogenetic interpretation of ecology and behavior. XXI International Ornithological Congress, Vienna. J. Ornithol. 135:338-342.