New faces: Karen James

New contributor Karen James

New contributor Karen James


Recently we’ve been pleased to welcome a big group of new contributors to the blog. By way of introduction, I asked each of them to answer a few quick questions about him- or herself. —Jeremy
Who are you? Where are you? I’m a staff scientist and member of faculty at a the MDI Biological Laboratory. I live in Bar Harbor, Maine, but I travel a fair amount for science and for fun. I postdoc’d at the Natural History Museum in London from 2003-2010 so I also have a lot of friends and former colleagues back there.
What do you study? I did my PhD in genetics, and my postdoc in molecular systematics, evolution, and biodiversity. Now I combine DNA-assisted species identification (DNA barcoding and related techniques) with citizen science to increase the scope and scale of environmental research, conservation, restoration, and management. I am working to develop the Acadia National Park region as a sort of model for exploring this combination. Considering the venue here, I think it’s important that I explain that I am not an ecologist, but I collaborate with ecologists!
What do you do when you’re not studying it? I love hiking, skiing, and biking in my backyard, that is, Acadia National Park. I’m on social media a lot – Twitter mainly (@kejames). I put a lot of effort into improving things for women and underrepresented minorities in science.

About Jeremy Yoder

Jeremy B. Yoder is an Associate Professor of Biology at California State University Northridge, studying the evolution and coevolution of interacting species, especially mutualists. He is a collaborator with the Joshua Tree Genome Project and the Queer in STEM study of LGBTQ experiences in scientific careers. He has written for the website of Scientific American, the LA Review of Books, the Chronicle of Higher Education, The Awl, and Slate.
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