Neil Shubin

Neil Shubin received his A.B. at Columbia University and his A.M. and Ph.D at Harvard University in 1987. His graduate work was on the evolution and development of limbs and fins. Using modeling of the processes of chondrogenesis, comparative studies of the sequence of cartilage formation in the manus and pes of tetrapods, and fossil evidence he worked on the embryological basis for limb diversity.

During a Miller PostDoctoral Fellowship at Berkeley, he worked on salamander limb ontogeny with the goal of understanding the developmental basic of limb diversity in the group as a model for assessing the role of developmental constraints in evolution.

Currently, the lab merges two empirical perspectives to understand the origin of organs. The first is expeditionary paleontology and the recovery of new fossils from key geological intervals around the globe. This program has resulted in the study of key species at major morphological and ecological transitions. The other program approaches the embryological and genetic basis of organogenesis in lower vertebrates. Shubin is currently Robert R. Bensley Distinguished Service Professor at The University of Chicago, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.