Martha M. Muñoz (born 1984 or 1985) is an American evolutionary biologist and an Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University.[1] She is also an assistant curator for the Division of Vertebrate Zoology at the Yale Peabody Museum.[2][3] In particular, Muñoz researches the influence of biomechanics and behavior on evolution in reptiles, amphibians, and fishes.[3] In 2024, she was named a MacArthur Fellow.[4]

Martha Muñoz
Born1985
EducationBoston University (BA)
Harvard University (PhD)
OccupationEvolutionary biologist

Biography

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Muñoz grew up in the New York City borough of Queens, and is the daughter of Cuban immigrants.[5] She received her BA in biology from Boston University in 2007 and her PhD in organismic and evolutionary biology from Harvard University in 2014.[5][3] While at Harvard, she worked in the lab of evolutionary biologist Jonathan Losos.[5] Following her PhD, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Australian National University and Duke University.[3] In 2017, she was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech.[3][6] She became an assistant professor in Yale University's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2019.[3]

Selected publications

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  • Muñoz, M. M., Stimola, M. A., Algar, A. C., Conover, A., Rodriguez, A. J., Landestoy, M. A., Bakken, G. S., & Losos, J. B. (2014). Evolutionary stasis and lability in thermal physiology in a group of tropical lizards. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1778), 20132433. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.2433
  • Muñoz, M. M., & Losos, J. B. (2018). Thermoregulatory Behavior Simultaneously Promotes and Forestalls Evolution in a Tropical Lizard. The American Naturalist, 191(1), E15–E26. https://doi.org/10.1086/694779
  • Bodensteiner, B. L., Agudelo‐Cantero, G. A., Arietta, A. Z. A., Gunderson, A. R., Muñoz, M. M., Refsnider, J. M., & Gangloff, E. J. (2021). Thermal adaptation revisited: How conserved are thermal traits of reptiles and amphibians? Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology, 335(1), 173–194. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.2414

References

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  1. ^ "Martha Muñoz". Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Yale University. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Meet the Peabody Curators & Collections Staff". Yale Peabody Museum. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Martha Muñoz". www.macfound.org. MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  4. ^ Blair, Elizabeth (October 1, 2024). "Here's who made the 2024 MacArthur Fellows list". NPR. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Pennisi, Elizabeth (22 September 2022). "This biologist discovered that lizards and other organisms can influence their own evolution". Science. 377 (6613). doi:10.1126/science.ade9763. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  6. ^ Mackay, Steven. "Martha Muñoz is named assistant professor in Department of Biological Sciences". news.vt.edu. Virginia Tech. Retrieved 4 October 2024.