John E. McCormack

Researcher, Professor, Museum curator

Birds, DNA, Specimens, Evolution

About

I am a researcher and museum curator residing in Los Angeles who studies the evolution of birds using museum specimens and genomes. Much of my research has worked to unlock data in museum collections to understand how ancient landscape changes as well as more recent urban environments have affected birds.

Recent Publications

Multispecies pangenomes reveal a pervasive influence of population size on structural variation (2025) Science 390: eadw1931 Link to Paper

Relocated, range-limited, but resilient: niche shift and constraints on spread in introduced Nanday parakeets (Aratinga nenday) (2025) Urban Ecosystems 28: 216 Link to Paper

Convergent niche shifts of endangered parrots (genus Amazona) during successful establishment in urban southern California (2023) Diversity and Distributions 30: e13817 Link to Paper

Notable Publications

Ultraconserved elements anchor thousands of genetic markers spanning multiple evolutionary timescales (2012) Systematic Biology 61, 717-726 Link to Paper

Sky islands (2009) In: Encyclopedia of Islands (Eds. Gillespie, R. & Clague, D.) 4: 841-843 Link to Paper

Sequence capture of ultraconserved elements from bird museum specimens (2016) Molecular Biology Resources 16: 1189-1203 Link to Paper

Speaking engagements

Public or private lectures of varying length and technicality, customized to your group. Signature topics include:

Wild Green: The Past, Present, and Future of Parrots in Southern California
How they arrived, how they’re adapting, and what this means for their evolution and conservationUnlocking the Past to Protect the Future
The power of museum specimens, from historical DNA to modern conservationGet in touch for availability, format, and honorarium details (sliding scale for schools, museums, and nonprofits)

On-camera appearances

Wrong Answers Only - Live Comedy + Parrots

Records of Change - Documentary Video short

(mailto:[email protected])