Dr. Bever is an evolutionary biologist in the Center for Functional Anatomy & Evolution, with secondary appointments in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. His research is grounded in the tenet that the diversity of Earth’s species provides unique opportunities to better understand our own biological challenges. He and his students integrate anatomy, embryology, developmental genetics, paleontology, and statistical modeling to discover how evolutionary history shapes the functional and clinical potential of biological systems. His lab is particularly interested in the transformations through which different vertebrate groups evolved their highly disparate body plans, with active projects addressing the origin of vertebrates from invertebrates, the origin of turtles, the origin of birds from within dinosaurs, and the evolution of sensory systems.
Dr. Bever maintains active field research in paleontology and has led or participated in expeditions across much of western North America, China, Mongolia, Spain, and South Africa. His research has been published in a wide variety of journals, including Nature, Science, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. It has been covered in an equally diverse collection of media outlets, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Der Spiegel, NBC, and CNN. Dr. Bever holds honorary/associate research positions at the American Museum of Natural History (New York City), Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC), the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and the Evolutionary Studies Institute (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa).
