Leo Shapiro, Ph. D.

National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow

  I have a broad interest in the natural history of organisms, particularly birds and insects. My primary research interests revolve around the ecology and evolution of reproductive behavior, especially as it relates to reproductive isolation and speciation. My Ph.D. work focused on behavioral and genetic aspects of hybridization between two meadow katydids in two hybrid zones, one old and one recently established. I am very enthusiastic about applying my theoretical interests to real conservation problems. Here at the zoo, I am developing microsatellite and mitochondrial genetic markers that I will use to examine the role of hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers in the widespread decline of the Golden-winged Warbler in the eastern United States.