The Molecular Ecology Prize Committee has announced the 2025 recipient of the award, which recognizes an outstanding scientist who has made significant contributions to the still-young field of molecular ecology:
The Molecular Ecology Prize Committee is pleased to announce that the 2025 Molecular Ecology Prize has been awarded to Dr. Rosemary G. Gillespie, who is an evolutionary biologist and professor of Environmental Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Gillespie has profoundly shaped the field of molecular ecology through her pioneering research, visionary leadership, and dedicated mentorship. Her interdisciplinary work bridges evolutionary biology, island biogeography, community ecology, and molecular genetics, addressing fundamental questions about biodiversity and adaptation. She has illuminated key mechanisms of species diversification and ecological community assembly, particularly in arthropods. Her seminal 2004 Science paper on Hawaiian spiders used molecular phylogenetics to demonstrate that adaptive radiation can structure ecological communities through in situ diversification—an influential contribution that now stands as a cornerstone of community and evolutionary ecology. Through decades of work in the Hawaiian archipelago, Dr. Gillespie’s research has set a benchmark for applying molecular tools to unravel complex ecological and evolutionary processes. Beyond her scholarship, she has been a dedicated leader and advocate for the molecular ecology community, notably through her long-standing editorial service to the journal Molecular Ecology.
Professor Gillespie joins the previous winners of the Molecular Ecology Prize: Godfrey Hewitt, John Avise, Pierre Taberlet, Harry Smith, Terry Burke, Josephine Pemberton, Deborah Charlesworth, Craig Moritz, Laurent Excoffier, Johanna Schmitt, Fred Allendorf, Louis Bernatchez, Nancy Moran, Robin Waples, Scott Edwards, Victoria Sork, Fuwen Wei, Kerstin Johannessen, Uma Ramakrishnan, and Michael Whitlock.
