Paul Barber, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in the UCLA College, has been named a 2020 Academy Fellow by the California Academy of Sciences. He is one of 14 new members that will join the ranks of the academy fellows, a governing group of more than 450 distinguished scientists and other leaders who have made notable contributions to science or science education and communication.
Barber’s laboratory at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability integrates genetics, ecology, oceanography and geology to understand the processes that promote speciation in marine environments, creating marine biodiversity hotspots. For the past decade, the lab has focused on the fish and invertebrates of the coral reefs of the Coral Triangle, the global epicenter of marine biodiversity.
The lab works closely with conservation organizations such as Conservation International to translate our basic science into information that can help guide conservation planning, protecting these endangered reef ecosystems.
Barber earned his doctorate in integrative biology from UC Berkeley and spent three years at Harvard University as an NSF postdoctoral fellow. Barber integrates genetics, genomics, ecology, and oceanography to understand the evolution and conservation of marine biodiversity.
Nominated by their colleagues and selected by the board of trustees, the California Academy of Sciences fellows are partners and collaborators in the pursuit of the academy mission to explore, explain, and sustain life. The new members were inducted during the fellowship’s virtual meeting on Oct. 13. They joined such well-known fellows as Sylvia Earle, Paul Ehrlich, Jane Lubchenco, Zeray Alemseged, John McCosker, Jill Tarter and UCLA astrophysicist Andrea Ghez, who earlier this month shared in the Nobel Prize in phsyics.
