CURRICULUM VITAE
CHRISTOPHER A. EMERLING
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
University of California, Berkeley
3101 Valley Life Sciences Bldg.
Berkeley, CA 94720
caemerling@berkeley.edu
A. PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION
Fresno City College, Biology, 2005-2007
University of California, Santa Barbara, Zoology B.S., 2009
University of California, Riverside, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology Ph.D., 2015
B. APPOINTMENTS
2015 – present NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley
2015
Dissertation Year Fellow, University of California, Riverside
2014
Graduate Writing Center, part-time consultant, University of California,
Riverside
2013 – 2014
Primary Instructor, Biology Department, University of California, Riverside
2011 – 2014
Graduate Student Researcher, Biology Department, University of California,
Riverside
2010 – 2014
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Biology Department, University of California,
Riverside
2010
Dean’s Distinguished Fellow, University of California, Riverside
2008
Research Supervisor, Gray Whales Count, Santa Barbara, CA
2006 – 2007
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Math, Science and Engineering Division,
Fresno City College
C. PUBLICATIONS
7. Emerling, C. A., H. T. Huynh, M. A. Nguyen, R. W. Meredith & M. S. Springer. In review.
Spectral shifts of mammalian ultraviolet-sensitive pigments (SWS1) are associated with eye
length and photic niche evolution.
6. Westerman, M., L. Meehan, C. Krajewski, B. Kear, R. W. Meredith, C. A. Emerling & M. S.
Springer. In press. Phylogenetic relationships of dasyuromorphian marsupials revisited.
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
5. Emerling, C. A. & M. S. Springer. 2015. Genomic evidence for rod monochromacy in sloths
and armadillos suggests early subterranean history for Xenarthra. Proceedings of the Royal
Society B: Biological Sciences 282: 20142192.
**Popular press coverage: National Geographic Phenomena (“Sloths and Armadillos See
The World In Black-and-White”)
4. Emerling, C. A. & M. S. Springer. 2014. Eyes underground: Regression of visual protein
networks in subterranean mammals. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 78: 260-270.
3. Meredith, R. W., J. Gatesy, C. A. Emerling, V. M. York & M. S. Springer. 2013. Rod
monochromacy and the coevolution of cetacean retinal opsins. PLoS Genetics 9 (4): e1003432.
2. Springer, M. S., R. W. Meredith, J. Gatesy, C. A. Emerling, J. Park, D. L. Rabosky, T.
Stadler, C. Steiner, O. A. Ryder, J. E. Janečka, C. A. Fisher & W. J. Murphy. 2012.
Macroevolutionary dynamics and historical biogeography of primate diversification inferred from
a species supermatrix. PLoS ONE 7(11): e49521.
1. Westerman, M., B.P. Kear, K. Aplin, R.W. Meredith, C. Emerling & M.S. Springer. 2012.
Phylogenetic relationships of living and recently extinct bandicoots based on nuclear and
mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 62: 97-108.
D. PRESENTATIONS
Poster Presentation. Inaugural meeting of the Pan American Society for Evolutionary
Developmental Biology; Berkeley, California; August 2015. Evolution of fleshy fruits in
Solanaceae: a FRUITFULL perspective. Dinusha C. Maheepala, Maya Strahl, Christopher A.
Emerling & Amy Litt.
Poster Presentation and Invited Oral Presentation (Press conference: “The Human Brain: Lessons
from the Animal Kingdom”). Neuroscience 2013; San Diego, California; November 2013. The
Nine-Banded Armadillo: A proposed model organism for achromatopsia and progressive cone
dystrophies. Christopher A. Emerling & Mark S. Springer.
**Popular press coverage: AAAS Science Update (“Armadillo Vision”), AAAS
ScienceShot (“Armadillo’s Bad Eyesight Could Shed Light on Human Blindness”),
Nature Neuroscience NeuroPod (November 2013 “Animals 1: Armadillo”), German
Radio Deutschlandfunk (“Blind wie ein Gurteltier”), The Scientist Magazine Twitter
@TheScientistLLC (“Nine-banded armadillos have a dysfunctional cone pathway, may
serve as model for certain blindness diseases –Christopher Emerling”), ScienceDaily
(“Understanding Ourselves by Studying Animal Kingdom”), Phys.org (“Nine-banded
armadillo: A model organism for vision disorders”)
Poster Presentation. Beyond the Genome 2013; San Francisco, California; October 2013. Eyes
underground: Regression of visual protein networks in subterranean mammals. Christopher A.
Emerling & Mark S. Springer.
Poster Presentation. Evolution 2013; Snowbird, Utah; June, 2013. Eyes underground: Regression
of visual protein networks in subterranean mammals. Christopher A. Emerling & Mark S.
Springer.
Oral Presentation. Fifth Western Evolutionary Biology Meeting; Irvine, California; May, 2013.
Rod monochromacy and the coevolution of cetacean retinal opsins. Robert W. Meredith, John
Gatesy, Christopher A. Emerling, Vincent M. York & Mark S. Springer.
Poster Presentation. Evolution Ottawa: 1st Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology; Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada; July, 2012. Ancestral state reconstruction methods support nocturnal
ancestry in Primates. Christopher A. Emerling.
Poster Presentation. Hennig XXXI; Riverside, California; June, 2012. Ancestral state
reconstruction methods support nocturnal ancestry in Primates. Christopher A. Emerling.
E. GRANTS AND AWARDS
National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (2015)
Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California, Riverside (2014)
Lance and Maureen Loomer Endowed Award in Biology, University of California, Riverside
(2014)
Dissertation Year Program Fellowship, University of California, Riverside (2014)
Earle C. Anthony Travel Award, University of California, Riverside (2013)
Grant-In-Aid of Research, American Society of Mammalogists (2013)
James Merrill and Adeline Wallace Annual Prize, University of California, Riverside (2013)
Dissertation Research Grant, University of California, Riverside (2012)
Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology Program Research Grant, University of California,
Riverside (2012)
Outstanding Teaching Award, University of California, Riverside (2012)
Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship, University of California, Riverside (2010)
Margaret H. Blaney Scholarship, University of California, Santa Barbara (2008-2009) F. TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Primary Instructor, UC Riverside
Organisms in their Environment (BIOL 003): Introduction to biology for non-majors (2 quarters
lecture)
Graduate Teaching Assistant, UC Riverside
Functional Anatomy of the Vertebrates A (BIOL 161A): Evolutionary history and structure and
function of skeletomuscular anatomy in vertebrates (1 quarter lab, 3 quarters discussion)
Functional Anatomy of the Vertebrates B (BIOL 161B): Structure and function of digestive,
respiratory, cardiovascular, urogenital, integumentary and nervous systems in vertebrates (2
quarters lab, 1 quarter discussion)
Introductory Evolution and Ecology (BIOL 005C): Introduction to experimental approaches in
the study of evolution and ecology (4 quarters lab)
Organisms in their Environment (BIOL 003): Introduction to biology for non-majors (2 quarters
lab)
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Fresno City College
Principles of Botany: Overview of the morphology, physiology, ecology, and evolution of plants
(1 semester lab, 1 semester supplementary instruction leader)
G. OUTREACH
Undergraduate mentor. June 2011 until present. I have taught 15 undergraduate students from
underrepresented backgrounds both computer and lab-based research methods and how to
approach scientific questions in both Dr. Mark Springer’s and Dr. David Reznick’s labs. I have
advised eight of these students on how to become attractive applicants for graduate schools in
biology. I supervised a research project by two of these students that was presented at UC
Riverside’s Undergraduate Symposium 2013 (“Fiat Lux: The Adaptive Evolution of Visual
Genes In Tetrapods”). Four students are on manuscripts: one in review, one to be submitted Fall
2015.
Science Outreach. K-12 science project consultations (Pomona Unified School District’s Science
Fair Expo, “PUSD Does Science”, 2013-2015; Riverside Science Fair Expo, 2014; St. Catherine
of Alexandria, 2014). UC Riverside undergraduate/graduate school Biology Program outreach
(2013-2015). Science outreach (Brain Awareness Day, UC Riverside, “Variation in color vision”,
2015; Science Day, Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Riverside, CA, “Mammal skulls:
identification and adaptations”, 2015; Pinacate Middle School, Perris, CA, AVID “How To Be
Successful In College”, 2013; Biola Elementary School, Fresno, CA, “Dinosaurs”, 2010; Monte
Vista Elementary School Science Week, Santa Barbara, CA, “Gray Whales”, 2008-2009).
Science fair judge (Granite Hill Elementary Jurupa Valley, 2013; St. Catherine of Alexandria,
2014; Riverside Unified School District 2015).
Evolution Public Outreach. Creator and author of Evolution for Skeptics blog, a website devoted
to communicating some of the most convincing recent evidence for macroevolution to
creationists and other skeptics of evolution. http://evolutionforskeptics.wordpress.com. Scientific
consultant for the Clergy Letter Project.
Co-Founder GRASP Biology. Developed and co-founded a free, open tutoring lab for biology
students at Fresno City College in Fall, 2006.
H. PEER REVIEWER
Open Access Animal Physiology