Dr. Christine M. Simon, PhD

Address: 75 N. Eagleville Road Storrs, CT 06269-3043
Phone: 1 (860) 486-4640
E-mail: csimon@uconnvm.uconn.edu

Academic Background:

BS (’71) Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville
MS (’74), Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville
PhD (’79), Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York, Stony Brook
Research Associate, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI (’81–Present)
Assistant Professor, Dept. General Science, University of Hawaii (’85–’90)
Associate Professor, Dept. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, U. Connecticut (’91–’96)
Professor, Dept. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, U. Connecticut (’96–Present)

Biography:

Chris Simon is a professor in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and a Professorial Research Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She is also a research associate of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI. From 1995 to 1998 she was a Senior Fulbright Research Fellow co-sponsored by Victoria University of Wellington, Otago University, and Massey University, New Zealand.

Recent projects in her laboratory focus on the application of information on molecular evolutionary processes to the improvement of tree-building, the molecular evolution of the secondary structure of ribosomal RNA, speciation and its relationship to past climates and landforms, evolution of periodical life cycles, the role of song in the evolution of insect species and the systematics and evolution of cicadas worldwide.

Chris Simon received her PhD from SUNY Stony Brook and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago and Washington University St. Louis. She was an Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii before moving to the University of Connecticut. She has been Editor of the journal Systematic Biology, Vice President of the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), on the council of SSE, Secretary and Program Director of the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB), and has served on NSF advisory panels. She is currently President Elect of the Society of Systematic Biologists and on the Editorial Board of Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

Related Publications:

Simon, C., T. R. Buckley, F. Frati, J. Stewart, and A. Beckenbach. 2006. Incorporating molecular evolution into phylogenetic analysis, and a compilation of conserved Polymerase Chain Reaction primers for animal mitochondrial DNA. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. In Press.

Buckley, T. R., M. Cordeiro, D. C. Marshall, and C. Simon. 2006. Differentiating between hypotheses of lineage sorting and introgression in New Zealand alpine cicadas (Maoricicada Dugdale). Systematic Biology 55:411-425.

Arensburger, P., T. R. Buckley, C. Simon, M. Moulds and K. E. Holsinger. 2004. Biogeography and phylogeny of the New Zealand Cicada Genera (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA data. Journal of Biogeography 31: 557–569.

Arensburger, P., C. Simon, and K. Holsinger. 2004. Evolution and Phylogeny of the New Zealand cicada genus Kikihia Dugdale (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadidae) with special reference to the origin of the Kermadec and Norfolk Islands species. Journal of Biogeography, 31: 1769-1783.

Jordan, S., C. Simon, and D. Polhemus. 2003. Molecular Systematics and Adaptive Radiation of Hawaii’s Endemic Damselfly Genus Megalagrion. Systematic Biology 52(1): 89-109.

Buckley, T. R., P. Arensburger, C. Simon, and G. K. Chambers. 2002. Combined Data, Bayesian Phylogenetics, and the Origin of the New Zealand Cicada Genera. Systematic Biology 51(1): 4-18.

Buckley, T. R., C. Simon, H. Shimodaira, and G. K. Chambers. 2001. Evaluating hypotheses on the origin and evolution of the New Zealand alpine cicadas (Maoricicada) using multiple comparison tests of tree topology. Molecular Biology and Evolution 18(2): 223–234.

Buckley, T. R., C. Simon, and G. K. Chambers. 2001. Phylogeography of the New Zealand cicada Maoricicada campbelli based on mitochondrial DNA sequences: Ancient clades associated with Cenozoic environmental change. Evolution 55:1395-1407.

Website:

Personal: http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/faculty/simon/simon.htm
Lab: http://collections2.eeb.uconn.edu/collections/cicadacentral/Simon_lab
Interview: http://www.in-cites.com/papers/DrChrisSimon.html