Ross D.E. MacPhee
Curator and Professor
Vertebrate Zoology, Mammalogy
Education
- University of Alberta, Ph.D., 1977
- University of British Columbia, B.A., 1969
- macphee@amnh.org
- Phone
- 212.769.5480
- Fax
- 212.769.5239
Research Interests
Dr. MacPhee studies the historical biogeography of the West Indies, using a combined tectonic/paleontological approach. This program of research has been in operation for more than 20 years and has involved work on all major and many of the smaller islands in the West Indies. His research has focused on systematic and functional anatomical investigations of the groups concerned. Dr. MacPhee also studies recent mammalian extinctions (last 40,000 years). Loss of species during geologically recent times is a worldwide phenomenon that has been blamed either on direct impacts involving people, or less direct impacts caused by environmental change. His research aims to clarify the causal patterns behind these losses, most recently by studying population dynamics of fossil species using ancient DNA methods.
Teaching Experience
- Faculty Appointments
- Visiting Professor of Cell Biology, NYU Medical Center, 2005-present
- Adjunct Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 2004
- Adjunct Professor, Doctoral Program in Anthropology, Graduate Center, CUNY, 1991-present
- Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, SUNY Stony Brook, 1989-present
- Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Duke University, 1985-1988
- Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Duke University, 1979-1985
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba, 1978-1979
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Winnipeg, 1977-1978
- Courses Taught
- Human Gross Anatomy, Department of Cell Biology, NYU School of Medicine, Summer 2005, Fall 2005
- Graduate Committees
- Patricia Sutherland, University of Alberta
- Eske Willerslev, University of Copenhagen
