Alexander Badyaev

About

Alexander Badyaev is a Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, a position he has held since 2009. His research focuses on understanding the continuity of life, exploring how physical connectivity between current and past forms is maintained through natural selection, chance, or preservation of constraints and adaptations. His work combines conceptual approaches from systems biology and genetics with empirical methods from developmental biology, genomics, biophysics, behavioral ecology, and population biology. Badyaev's recent research has demonstrated how ancestral carotenoid networks influence the evolution of avian coloration, how development integrates physical and biological processes to reconcile modification and robustness, and how stress-buffering mechanisms facilitate both functionality and evolutionary transitions. His studies encompass a variety of organismal systems, with particular expertise in the natural history and evolutionary biology of birds and mammals, often conducted in some of the most pristine and wild environments. Throughout his career, he has made significant contributions to understanding evolutionary processes, phenotypic flexibility, and the genetic and developmental bases of complex traits.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Biology
• Ecology
• Zoology
• Genetics
• Evolutionary biology
• Cell biology
• Neuroscience
• Programming language
• Operating system

Selected publications

• House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)

  Birds of the World · 2020-03-04 · 139 citations

  reference-entry1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• On the Origins of Adaptive Behavioral Complexity: Developmental Channeling of Structural Trade-offs

  Advances in the study of behavior · 2017-12-13 · 34 citations

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Turning induced plasticity into refined adaptations during range expansion

  Nature Communications · 2020 · 33 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Robustness against environmental fluctuations within an adaptive state should preclude exploration of new adaptive states when the environment changes. Here, we study transitions between adaptive associations of feather structure and carotenoid uptake to understand how robustness and evolvability can be reconciled. We show that feather modifications induced by unfamiliar carotenoids during a range expansion are repeatedly converted into precise coadaptations of feather development and carotenoid…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cycles of external dependency drive evolution of avian carotenoid networks

  Nature Communications · 2019-04-08 · 22 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  All organisms depend on input of exogenous compounds that cannot be internally produced. Gain and loss of such dependencies structure ecological communities and drive species' evolution, yet the evolution of mechanisms that accommodate these variable dependencies remain elusive. Here, we show that historical cycles of gains and losses of external dependencies in avian carotenoid-producing networks are linked to their evolutionary diversification. This occurs because internalization of metabolic…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Structure versus time in the evolutionary diversification of avian carotenoid metabolic networks

  Journal of Evolutionary Biology · 2018-02-27 · 14 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Historical associations of genes and proteins are thought to delineate pathways available to subsequent evolution; however, the effects of past functional involvements on contemporary evolution are rarely quantified. Here, we examined the extent to which the structure of a carotenoid enzymatic network persists in avian evolution. Specifically, we tested whether the evolution of carotenoid networks was most concordant with phylogenetically structured expansion from core reactions of common ancest…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Evolution of Maternal Effects in a Model Avian System

  NSF · $536k · 2002–2009

• Dissertation Research: Developmental Origins and Evolutionary Consequences of Modularity in a Complex Trait

  NSF · $12k · 2006–2008

• LTREB RENEWAL: Reconciling Innovation and Adaptation During Ongoing Range Expansion

  NSF · $536k · 2018–2024

Frequent coauthors

• Geoffrey E. Hill

  Auburn University

  42 shared

• Linda A. Whittingham

  University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

  14 shared

• Rebecca L. Young

  The University of Texas at Austin

  13 shared

• Kevin P. Oh

  Macquarie University

  12 shared

• Renée A. Duckworth

  University of Arizona

  12 shared

• Erin S. Morrison

  11 shared

• Thomas E. Martin

  Operation Wallacea

  10 shared

• Tobias Uller

  Lund University

  7 shared

Labs

• Badyaev LabPI

  Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology :: University of Arizona

Awards & honors

• Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Scienc…
• Kavli Fellow, US National Academy of Sciences, elected 2013
• Distinguished Career Teaching Award, College of Science, Uni…
• The Mangelsdorf Distinguished Speaker, University of North C…
• Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Miami, 2012/…

Similar researchers at University of Arizona

• Scott Saleskah-82
• Regis Ferriereh-63
• Judith Bronsteinh-57