Rob DeSalle

Rob DeSalle,
Co-Director of the Molecular Systematics Laboratories,
Curator, Division of Invertebrate Zoology, and Curator of The Genomic Revolution

Rob DeSalle’s fields of specialization include molecular evolution, population genetics, molecular systematics, and developmental biology. His early research focused on the molecular systematics of the Drosophilidae, a family of flies. His more recent work centers on gene family evolution and comparative genomics in a wide variety of organisms, including pathogenic bacteria. 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, the University of Connecticut, and Yale University. In addition to his research and teaching, Dr. DeSalle co-authored The Science of Jurassic Park and the Lost World (Basic Books, 1997), and curated the Museum’s 1999 landmark exhibition Epidemic! The World of Infectious Disease.

The RealAudio file below contains a brief interview conducted with the curator, in which he talks about about his work at the Museum and his interest in Genomics.

Read the interview transcript

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