College of Arts and Sciences

Education:

• PhD, Zoology, Louisiana State University, 2003
• MS, Zoology, University of Minnesota, 1997
• BS, Natural Resources, University of Michigan, 1993

Curriculum Vitae:

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Research Interests:

• Phylogenetics
• Host-parasite coevolution; Ornithology
• Systematic biology; Comparative biology
• Biodiversity surveys
• Genomics

Bio:

Jason Weckstein is an associate professor in Drexel's BEES department and associate curator in the department of Ornithology at the Academy of Natural Sciences.  Jason obtained his BS degree in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan in 1993, his MS in Zoology from the University of Minnesota and his PhD from Louisiana State University in 2003.  After obtaining his PhD Jason was a postdoctoral fellow at the Illinois Natural History Survey at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where he stayed on as a staff scientist until joining the BEES faculty.  Jason has over 17 years of experience working in natural history museums and has conducted research on birds and their parasites in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Ghana, Malawi, Nicaragua, and Brazil.  In addition to his teaching, training, and research, Jason's additional interests at the Academy of Natural Sciences include collections building, curation and public outreach.

Selected Publications:

• Kolencik, S., J. Cacioppo, K. P. Johnson, J. Allen, O. Sychra, and J. D. Weckstein. 2022. Phylogenetics and host-specificity of the mega-diverse louse genus Myrsidea (Amblycera: Menoponidae). Systematic Entomology 47:390-401.
• Galen, S. C., S. Ray, M. Henry, and J. D. Weckstein. 2022. Disease-associated mortality in birds: the roles of specialist parasites and host evolutionary isolation. Biology Letters 18: 20210575.
• Fecchio, A., R. I. Dias, T. V. Ferreira, A. O. Reyes, J. H. Dispoto, J. D. Weckstein, J. A. Bell, V. V. Tkach, J. B. Pinho. 2022. Host foraging behavior and nest type influence prevalence of avian haemosporidian parasites in the Pantanal. Parasitology Research 121: 1407-1417.
• Catanach, T. A., M. R. Halley, J. M. Allen, J. A. Johnson, R. Thorstrom, S. Palhano, C. Poor Thunder, J. C. Gallardo, and J. D. Weckstein. 2021. Systematics and conservation of an endemic radiation of Accipiter hawks in the Caribbean islands. Ornithology 138:1-23
• Rice, A. A., R. L. Curry, and J. D. Weckstein. 2021. Prevalence and lineage richness of haemosporidians across a moving chickadee hybrid zone. Ornithology 138: 1-13.
• Dantas, S. M., J. D. Weckstein, J. M. Bates, J. N. Oliveira, T. A. Catanach, and A. Aleixo. 2021. Multi-character taxonomic review, systematics, and biogeography of the Black-capped/Tawny-bellied Screech Owl (Megascops atricapilla-M. watsonii) complex (Aves: Strigidae). Zootaxa 4949(3):401-444.
• Galen, S. C., J. Borner, S. L. Perkins, and J. D. Weckstein. 2020. Phylogenomics from transcriptomic “bycatch” clarify the origins and diversity of avian trypanosomes in North America. PLoSOne 15(10):e0240062.
• Dantas, S. M., J. D. Weckstein, J. M. Bates, N. K. Krabbe, C. D. Cadena, M. B. Robbins, E. Valderrama, and A. Aleixo. 2016. Molecular Systematics of the New World Screech-Owls (Megascops: Aves, Strigidae): Biogeographic and taxonomic implications. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 94:626-634.