Rich
Macniven
Museum
of Comparative Zoology Labs
Harvard University
26 Oxford St Cambridge,
MA 02138
Office
(1): 617-679-2758
Office (2): 617-495-4012 (weekends)
Fax: (617) 495-5667
Research Interests
I
am a Harvard Extension School Master's degree candidate. My research project
concentrates on the lycaenid tribe Polyommatini (also referred to as "blues").
By sequencing the mitochondrial genes cytochrome oxidase I and II of both
world-wide and Neotropical taxa, I hope to discover the origins of the South
American polyommatini.
Neotropical polyommatini are of particular interest to the Pierce lab. In the 1940's, the author Vladimir Nabokov (author of Lolita) was the Curator of Lepidoptera at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. He published more than a dozen papers on the taxonomy and natural history of butterflies, especially the polyommatini.Nabokov believed that Neotropical polyommatini must have slowly migrated over the millenia from North America, through Central America and into South America. By comparing the DNA sequences of Neotropical and Old World/ North American taxa, I hope to discover if Nabokov was correct.
Rich
Macniven
Museum
of Comparative Zoology Labs
Harvard University
26 Oxford St Cambridge,
MA 02138
Office
(1): 617-679-2758
Office (2): 617-495-4012 (weekends)
Fax: (617) 495-5667
