Rebecca B. Harris
University of Washington
Kincaid Box 351800
Seattle, WA 98105
Telephone: (617) 688-8029
email: rbharris@u.washington.edu
Updated: December 10, 2011
Education
University of Washington
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Biology, Ph.D
Advisor: Adam Leaché
Biology & Asian Studies
Advisor: Irby Lovette
current –
B.S.
2010
Publications
Lovette IJ, Arbogast BS, Curry RL, Zink RM, Botero CA, Sullivan JP, Talaba AL, Harris RB,
Rubenstein DR, Ricklefs RE, Bermingham E. 2011. Phylogenetic relationships of the
mockingbirds and thrashers (Aves: Mimidae) Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
doi:10.1016/j.ymev.2011.07.009
Harris RB, Carling MD, Lovette IJ. Phylogenetic inference of chickadees: gene trees versus
species trees and the influence of sampling design. (In prep for Systematic Biology.)
Leaché AD, Harris RB, Rannala B, Yang Z. Gene flow and Bayesian species tree estimation error.
(In review at Molecular Biology and Evolution).
Presentation
Oral: August 2009 American Ornithological Union. Philadelphia. A phylogenomic history of
chickadees reveals their evolutionary history.
Oral: August 2010 Golden-winged Warbler Conservation Workshop, Ithaca. Update of goldenwinged warbler and blue-winged warbler genetics.
Honors and Grants
January 2012. AOU Student Membership Award.
April 2011. NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program ($90,000)
March 2011. University of Washington Top Scholar Fellowship ($23,000)
June 2010. Summer Institute of Statistical Genetics Scholarship ($1,650)
May 2010. Cornell Center for Comparative & Population Genomics Travel Award ($800)
December 2010. Honors Thesis at Cornell University.
Appointments
Field Technician – Dustin Rubenstein [February 2011 – July 2011]
Mpala Research Centre, Kenya
I set up a study site at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya where I studied how fire influences
kin structure and social behavior in the superb starling. I banded birds, as well as collecting
blood and hormone samples.
Teaching Assistant – Mpala Research Center [January 2011 & June 2011]
I taught two separate courses in Tropical Field Ecology for Cornell University and Columbia
University. The goal of the course is to help students integrate concepts in evolution, ecology,
and behavioral ecology while gaining experience in experimental design and data collection in
one of the world’s most biologically spectacular settings.
Molecular Laboratory Technician [February 2010-December 2010]
Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
I worked on developing a nuclear-based hybrid atlas to document patterns of introgression at
scales relevant to conservation of warblers and their habitat. I generated next-generation
sequencing data to investigate genome-wide patterns of introgression between hybridizing
species. Furthermore, I was responsible for training undergrads and graduate students in the
molecular lab techniques relevant to their thesis and dissertation projects. These techniques
include DNA extraction, PCR, sequencing, primer design, sequence alignment, SNP discovery,
and phylogenetic analysis.
Field Assistant – Becky Cramer [Summer 2010]
Ithaca, NY
I recorded, mist-netted, and banded house wrens for a graduate student’s PhD dissertation.
Research Intern – Irby Lovette [January 2008-December 2009]
I designed and sequenced over 80 anonymous loci to create the dataset that underlies my
thesis project, which addressed computational questions about inferring evolutionary
relationships between species. I compared the traditional approach of inferring phylogenetic
relationships via the concatenation of loci—which in effect estimates a consensus gene tree—
with a range of newer species-tree methods based on coalescent models. I also explored the
long-standing issue of how many independent loci are needed to infer robust phylogenetic
relationships. I was responsible for all aspects of the project, from formulating my project
design to writing up and responding to reviewer comments on my manuscript, which is now
being edited for resubmission to Systematic Biology.
NestCam Archivist [January 2008-July 2008]
Citizen Science, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
I worked as a web developer and archivist for the Citizen Science NestCam program, a public
online resource for people interested in learning more about the hidden lives of breeding birds.
For the associated website I wrote for a general audience about the science behind avian
courtship, mating, laying eggs, and raising young.
Research Assistant – Judith Scarl [October 2007-February 2008]
Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
I analyzed orange-fronted conure (parrot) calls for a graduate student’s dissertation. I
performed spectrographic cross correlations on calls, to see how vocal imitation functions in
signaling.
Research Assistant – Webb Lab [October 2006-September 2007]
Biophysical Imaging Optoelectronics, Cornell University
I maintained cell cultures and extracted mouse bladders for studies of membrane transport. I
also worked on a project with a graduate student who studied the way lipids organize to
promote protein function in the membranes. To determine whether heterogeneity is the result
of true coexisting phases or nonrandom mixing, we manipulated the temperature of lipids,
isolating them to regions of varying conductance, and visualizing domains indirectly by analysis
of fluorescence resonance energy transfer.
Collaborators and co-authors (past 48 months)
A. D. Leaché (U Washington), Sharon Birks (U Washington), Bruce Rannala (UC Davis), Ziheng
Yang (U College London), Roi Dor (U Colorado Boulder), B.S. Arbogast (UNC Wilmington), M.D.
Carling (Cornell), E.R.A Cramer (Cornell), R.L. Curry (Villinova), I.J. Lovette (Cornell), C.A.
Makarewich (Cornell), J.P. Sullivan (Cornell), D.L. Rabosky (UC Berkeley), D.R. Rubenstein
(Columbia), J. Scarl (Cornell), R.L. Smith (Cornell), L. Stenzler (Cornell), A.L. Talaba (Cornell), R.
Vallender (Cornell)