Chris Kyriazis

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Chris began his PhD in the Wayne and Lohmueller labs in 2017. His dissertation research aims to explore applications of genomics in conservation biology, with the specific goal of understanding the genetic factors that can drive extinction in small and isolated wildlife populations. Chris obtained a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago in 2015, where he conducted research at the Field Museum of Natural History investigating patterns of evolutionary diversification in mammals and birds from the Philippines and Madagascar.
 Selected Publications

Kyriazis, CC, Wayne, RK, & KE Lohmueller, 2020. Strongly deleterious mutations are a primary determinant of extinction risk due to inbreeding depression. Evolution Letters.

Adrion, JR*, Cole, CB*, Dukler, ND*, Galloway, JG*, Gladstein, AL*, Gower, G*, Kyriazis, CC*, Ragsdale, AR*, Tsambos, G*…(17 other co-authors)… Kelleher, J, & AD Kern, 2020. A community-maintained standard library of population genetic models. eLife, 9:e54967.

​Younger, JL, Block, NL, Raherilalao, MJ, Maddox, DJ, Wacker, KS, Kyriazis, CC, Goodman, SM, & S Reddy. Diversification of a cryptic radiation, a closer look at Madagascar’s newly recognized bird family. Systematic Biology (in revision).

Heaney, LR*, Kyriazis, CC*, Balete, DS, Rickart, EA & SJ Steppan, 2018. How small an island? Speciation by endemic mammals on an oceanic Philippine island. Journal of Biogeography, 45, 1675-1687.   *co-first authors 

Kyriazis, CC, Alam, B, Wjodyla, M, Hosner, PA, Hackett, SJ, Mays Jr., HL., Heaney, LR & S Reddy, 2018. Colonization and diversification of the White-browed Shortwing in the Philippines. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 121, 121-131.

Kyriazis, CC, Bates, JM & LR Heaney, 2017. Dynamics of genetic and morphological diversification in an incipient intra-island radiation of Philippine rodents (Muridae: Bullimus). Journal of Biogeography, 44, 2585-2594.

 


 Grants and Awards

Young Investigator Award, Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (conference cancelled due to COVID-19), June 2020

UCLA Graduate Research Grant ($2,000), June 2019

Hamilton Award Finalist, Society for the Study of Evolution ($500), June 2019

UCLA Graduate Research Grant ($1,100), May 2019

UCLA Dean’s Scholar ($14,500), 2017-2019

Field Museum NSF REU Summer Research Grant ($7,500), Summer 2015

Dean’s List, University of Chicago, 2011-2015