Rewriting The Birds Tree of Life

Teaching Systems Biology and Genetics Through Inquiry

Shannon Hackett, Ph.D. is The Richard and Jill Chaifetz Curator and Head, Bird Division of Zoology at The Field Museum.  Shannon’s current research is focused on the Emerging Pathogen Project which studies birds and small mammals and the parasites and pathogens that live in and on them from a genomics and evolutionary perspective.  To learn more about Shannon and her research visit her Field Museum profile. Some other useful sites are The Field Museum’s Division of Birds website and The Field Museum’s Hall of Birds site.  This video can also be found on The Field Museum's Vimeo page. 

"Everything I do or think about in science is systems based--from DNA inside of system of cells, to individual birds as ecosystems of organisms that live in them or on them, to birds as part of larger and more encompassing ecosystems.  Everything in biology is connected to everything else by varying systems." – Dr. Shannon Hackett