Chelsea Marie Berns

Hi, I'm Chelsea Marie Berns

I am an evolutionary and ecological biologist, interested in the evolution of phenotypic diversity and sexual dimorphism. Currently, I am a Lecturer at Iowa State University teaching an online Evolution course. I am looking forward to being a Visiting Assistant Professor at Adams State University, where I will teach Anatomy and Physiology, General Biology, and Environmental Science (both lecture and laboratories of all courses). I am especially excited for Spring 2014, when I will be teaching Evolution, General Biology, and have the opportunity to create my own course: The Evolution and Ecology of Sexual Dimorphism. My research interests focus on micro- and macroevolutionary patterns of sexual size and shape dimorphism in hummingbird bill morphology, using landmark-based geometric morphometrics to quantify these morphological differences. I have been examining rates of phenotypic evolution and morphological disparity both within and between 270 species of hummingbirds and am looking forward to pursuing these topics with undergraduate researchers. Chelsea M Berns