About me
I started my scientific career in earnest after spending many years exploring and experiencing the world. I have worked at a library in Kentucky; taught biology at a high school in Louisiana; made cappuccinos, analyzed bird song, and trained lemurs to use computers in North Carolina; played ultimate frisbee and studied nightingales in Berlin; baked bread and sequenced parasites in Philadelphia; and now I am being a mom and pursuing my PhD in the Stoddard Lab in Princeton, New Jersey. I love nature, birdwatching, hiking, cycling, swimming, picnics, craft beer, music, and spending time with my family.
Research
I study the evolution of phenotypic diversity in the context of animal signaling and camouflage. My current work investigates the macroevolution and function of plumage patterns in woodpeckers. By combining a variety of approaches, including phylogenetic comparative analyses, fieldwork, museum specimen photography, and visual modeling of signal receivers, I am answering questions about why woodpeckers display striking diversity– and in some taxa, striking similarity– in their plumage patterns.
Understanding evolutionary history provides context and crucial insights into the form and function of animal phenotypes, including the extent to which traits are constrained.
“HUGE-B 500-NCBI PGT” by Elena Regina is marked with CC PDM 1.0.
Observing animals in nature is essential for understanding what selective pressures drive the evolution of their phenotypes.
Image: Gordon Dylan Johnson, openclipart.org
Many animals experience the world differently than we do. Incorporating what we know about the sensory perception of animals is important for understanding how and why particular phenotypes evolve.
Image: laobc, openclipart.org
Museum specimens are an indispensable resource for studying the evolution and diversity of animal phenotypes.
Melanerpes lewis;
photo taken at the American Museum of Natural History
by Monica Carlson
Publications
- Carlson, M. and M. Stoddard. Evolution of plumage patterns in pattern morphospace: a phylogenetic analysis of melanerpine woodpeckers. The American Naturalist. (submitted)
- Tobias, J. A., C. Sheard, A. L. Pigot, A. J. M. Devenish, J. Yang, F. Sayol, M. H. C. Neate-Clegg, et al. 2022. AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25:581–597.
- Carlson, M., G. Proudfoot, K. Gentile, J. Dispoto, and J. Weckstein. 2018. Haemosporidian prevalence in Northern saw‐whet owls (Aegolius acadicus) is predicted by host age and average annual temperature at breeding grounds. Journal of Avian Biology 49.
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