H. Bradley Shaffer

About

H. Bradley Shaffer is a Distinguished Professor and the Director of the UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science within the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. His research focuses on conservation biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology, primarily concerning amphibians and reptiles. His recent projects have centered on conservation genomics, including leading the California Conservation Genomics Project (CCGP), which analyzes 250 species of plants and animals using genomic analysis to aid in conserving California's biodiversity. Shaffer has conducted phylogenetic analyses of turtles and tortoises, providing an evolutionary framework essential for their conservation, and has focused ecological and genetic research on endangered species such as the California tiger salamander and various frogs, toads, and salamanders. In addition to his academic appointment, he is the Director of the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve and serves as the campus liaison to the UC Natural Reserve System, contributing to conservation efforts and research infrastructure in California.

Research topics

• Ecology
• Biology
• Environmental resource management
• Political Science
• Zoology
• Environmental ethics
• Environmental science
• Public relations
• Geography
• Epistemology

Selected publications

• The Earth BioGenome Project 2020: Starting the clock

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022 · 362 citations

  Description

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Turtles and Tortoises Are in Trouble

  Current Biology · 2020 · 349 citations

  DOI

• Landscape Genomics to Enable Conservation Actions: The California Conservation Genomics Project

  Journal of Heredity · 2022 · 156 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  The California Conservation Genomics Project (CCGP) is a unique, critically important step forward in the use of comprehensive landscape genetic data to modernize natural resource management at a regional scale. We describe the CCGP, including all aspects of project administration, data collection, current progress, and future challenges. The CCGP will generate, analyze, and curate a single high-quality reference genome and 100-150 resequenced genomes for each of 153 species projects (representi…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Intended consequences statement

  Conservation Science and Practice · 2021 · 15 citations

  Source Agritrop Cirad (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/605797/)

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The genome assembly of the duckweed fern, <i>Azolla caroliniana</i>

  Journal of Heredity · 2025-04-10 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Azolla is a genus of freshwater ferns that is economically important as a nitrogen-fixing biofertilizer, biofuel, bioremediator, and for potential carbon sequestration, but also contains weedy invasive species. In California, only 2 species are currently recognized but the actual diversity may include up to 6 species, with the discrepancy being due to the difficulty in identifying taxa, hybridization, and the introduction of non-native species. Here, we report a new haplotype-resolved, chromosom…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• SG: Will phylogenomics resolve the most difficult parts of the tree of life: an empirical evaluation with the turtle genus Pseudemys

  NSF · $150k · 2015–2018

• Turtles of the World: Global Systematics for an Imperiled Clade

  NSF · $254k · 2012–2014

• Collaborative Research: Gauging Introgression: Variation Across the Genome in Mode and Tempo of Natural Selection in a Tiger Salamander Hybrid Zone

  NSF · $257k · 2005–2009

Frequent coauthors

• Beth Shapiro

  763 shared

• Thomas J. Near

  Yale Peabody Museum

  755 shared

• Felipe Zapata

  752 shared

• F. Keith Barker

  Science Museum of Minnesota

  752 shared

• Joël Cracraft

  American Museum of Natural History

  752 shared

• David Bryant

  751 shared

• Hélène Morlon

  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

  751 shared

• Richard E. Glor

  University of Kansas

  751 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1990

• M.S., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1986

• B.S., Zoology

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1983

Similar researchers at University of California, Los Angeles

• Lawren Sackh-95
• Glen MacDonaldh-79
• Michael Alfaroh-66