Naomi Pierce

Naomi Pierce at a lecture in India (2018)

Naomi Ellen Pierce (* 1954 in Colorado ) is Professor of Biology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University , a position once held by Vladimir Nabokov . Pierce studies the relationship between butterfly larvae and ants, as well as genetic trends within the species, to understand the evolutionary process.

Life

Naomi Pierce was born in 1954 in Colorado to a geophysicist .

education

In 1972 Naomi Pierce started her bachelor's degree in humanities and later switched to biology. The course was taught by ecologist and evolutionary biologist Charles Remington . In 1976 Pierce received her bachelor's degree in biology from Yale University . After graduating, she and Charles Remington studied butterflies in Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Java, Bali and Australia.

In 1977 Naomi Pierce came to the Museum of Comparative Zoology , which was then headed by Edward O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler , to do their doctorate there. During her PhD, Naomi E. Pierce made pioneering contributions to insect behavioral ecology by studying symbiosis between species and the impact this had on species interactions and diversification. Since then she has concentrated on the field of entomology and evolutionary biology , always placing insects at the center of her research.

In 1983 she got her PhD from Harvard .

Career

Between 1984 and 1986 she worked as a research teacher at Christ Church in Oxford and participated in a research with NATO in the Department of Zoology in Oxford.

In 1986 she moved to Princeton to work as an assistant professor at Princeton University from 1986 to 1989 and then from 1989 to 1990 as an associate professor of biology .

In 1991 she was appointed Hessel Professor and curator of the Lepidoptera .

family

Her grandfather Ishizaka Yōjirō (1900-1986) was a well-known Japanese writer.

Her sister Tomi Pierce (1953-2010) was a writer and later also a producer of video games such as Prince of Persia and The Last Express .

Naomi Pierce is married to the British biologist Andrew Berry ; they have two twin daughters.

Services

Naomi E. Pierce studies the blues . She works with a group of Harvard University biologists at the Pierce Lab, where research focuses on the ecology and evolution of interactions between species. The researchers study the interactions between insects and plants, symbioses between ants and other organisms, and endosymbioses between ants and their bacterial co-workers. They also investigate the history of the formation of insects and use the experience gained in research on life history, evolution and biogeography.

Investigation of the species Jalmenus evagoras

In Australia, Naomi E. Pierce researched the species Jalmenus evagoras, whose relationship with ants has served as a model system for the study of inter-specific interactions, chemical communication, mutualism, and the evolution of complex biographical traits. In experiments, Naomi E. Pierce raised some caterpillars in field conditions with their accompanying ants and others without ants. The results were spectacular for Pierce. About one in a hundred caterpillars raised with ants survived to maturity, while only one in 10,000 survived for those raised without ants.

Ant history research

Together with a research group from Harvard University, Naomi E. Pierce reconstructed the family tree of the animals. To do this, the DNA of six genes from 139 representative species of ants was compared. The aim of this research was to date key events in the evolution of the animal group on the basis of 43 fossils from different stages of ant history. Pierce and her colleagues Corrie Moreau and Charles D. Bell were the first to trace the origin of the ants back to 140,000,000 to 168,000,000 years with the help of molecular sequence data. That is 40 million years older than previous estimates.

The book Biology: How Life Works

The book Biology: How Life Works was written by Naomi Pierce with James R. Morris, Daniel L. Hartl, Andrew H. Knoll, Robert A. Lue, Andrew Berry, Andrew Biewener, Brian Farrell, N. Michele Holbrook and Alain Viel im Written in 2012 as a modern student resource on biology. Biology: How Life Works was intended not to be a reference work for all of biology, but rather a source for basic concepts, terms, and experiments. This enables students to identify, understand and apply critical concepts more easily.

Awards

Naomie E. Pierce has received awards such as the Fulbright Fellowship and the MacArthur Award . She is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Harvard Society of Fellows . In 2016 she received the Addison Emery Verrill Medal , in 2018 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , and in 2019 she was awarded the International Prize for Biology .

Publications (selection)

• Let the Right One In: A Microeconomic Approach to Partner Choice in Mutualisms. Authors: Marco Archetti, Fransisco Úbeda de Torres, Drew Fudenberg, Jerry Green, Naomi E. Pierce, Douglas W. Yu. Published in The American Naturalist 177.1 , 2011.
• Asynchronous Diversification in a Specialized Plant-Pollinator Mutualism. Authors: Santiago R. Ramírez, Thomas Eltz, Mikiko K. Fujiwara, Günter Gerlach, Benjamin Goldman-Huertas, Neil D. Tsutsui, Naomi E. Pierce. Published in Science, vol. 333 , 2011.
• Reply to Kiers et al .: Economic and biological clarity in the theory of mutualism. Authors: EG Weyl, ME Frederickson, DW Yu, NE Pierce. Published in Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, vol. 108, pp. 8 − E8 , 2011.
• Nine novel microsatellite markers for the army ant Simopelta pergandei (subfamily Ponerinae). Authors: Daniel JC KronauerJacobus, Jacobus J. Boomsma, Naomi E. Pierce. Published in Conservation Genetics Resources, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 61–63, 2011.
• A phylogenetic revision of the Glaucopsyche section (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), with special focus on the Phengaris– Maculinea clade. Authors: LV Ugelvig, R. Vila, NE Pierce, DR Nash. Published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - MOL PHYLOGENET EVOL, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 237-243 , 2011.
• Myrmecophiles. Authors: Daniel JC Kronauer, Naomi E. Pierce. Published in Current Biology - CURR BIOL, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. R208 − R209, 2011.
• Economic contract theory tests models of mutualism. Authors: EG Weyl, ME Frederickson, DW Yu, NE Pierce. Published in Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, vol. 107, no.35 , 2010.
• Phylogeny, diversification patterns and historical biogeography of euglossine orchid bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae): PHYLOGENY OF ORCHID BEES. Authors: Santiago R. Ramirez, David W. Roubik, Charlotte Skov, Naomi E. Pierce. Published in Biological Journal of The Linnean Society - BIOL J LINN SOC, vol. 100, no. 3, pp. 552-572 , 2010.
• A molecular phylogeny of the stingless bee genus Melipona (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Authors: Santiago R. Ramírez, James C. Nieh, Tiago B. Quental, David W. Roubik, Vera L. Imperatriz-Fonseca, Naomi E. Pierce. Published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - MOL PHYLOGENET EVOL, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 519-525, 2010.
• From the Cover: Economic contract theory tests models of mutualism. Authors: EG Weyl, ME Frederickson, DW Yu, NE Pierce. Published in Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, vol. 107, pp. 15712-15716, 2010.
• Are Mutualisms Maintained by Host Sanctions or Partner Fidelity Feedback? Authors: Naomi Ellen Pierce, Megan E. Frederickson, Douglas W. Yu, Eric Glen Weyl, 2010.
• SPECIALIZATION AND GEOGRAPHIC ISOLATION AMONG WOLBACHIA SYMBIONTS FROM ANTS AND LYCAENID BUTTERFLIES. Authors: Jacob A. Russell, Benjamin Goldman-Huertas, Corrie S. Moreau, Laura Baldo, Julie K. Stahlhut, John H. Werren, Naomi E. Pierce. Published in Evolution, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 624-640, 2009.
• Bacterial gut symbionts are tightly linked with the evolution of herbivory in ants. Authors: Jacob A. Russell, Corrie S. Moreau, Benjamin Goldman-Huertas, Mikiko Fujiwara, David J. Lohman, Naomi E. Pierce. Published in Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, vol. 106, no.50, pp. 21236-21241, 2009.
• The double cloak of invisibility: phenotypic plasticity and larval decoration in a geometrid moth, Synchlora frondaria, across three diet treatments. Authors: Michael R. Canfield, Susan M. Chang, Naomi E. Pierce. Published in Ecological Entomology - ECOL ENTOMOL, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 412-414, 2009.
• Bacterial gut symbionts are tightly linked with the evolution of herbivory in ants. Authors: JA Russell, CS Moreau, B. Goldman-Huertas, M. Fujiwara, DJ Lohman, NE Pierce. Published in Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, vol. 106, pp. 21236-21241, 2009.
• Exploring phenotypic plasticity and biogeography in emerald moths: A phylogeny of the genus Nemoria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). Authors: Michael R. Canfield, Erick Greene, Corrie S. Moreau, Nancy Chen, Naomi E. Pierce. Published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - MOL PHYLOGENET EVOL, vol. 49, no.2 , pp. 477-487 , 2008.
• Delicious poison: genetics of Drosophila host plant preference. Authors: Noah K. Whiteman, Naomi E. Pierce. Published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 23, no. 9, pp. 473-478, 2008

Web links

• Pierce Laboratory at Harvard University
• Naomi E. Pierce on Microsoft Academic Search

Individual evidence

1. ^ NY Times: Charles Lee Remington, Butterfly Expert, Dies at 85
2. ^ "Stalking Nabokov: Selected Essays" by Brian Boyd
3. ↑ "Animal Rights: A Reference Handbook" by Clifford J. Sherry
4. ↑ Naomi E. Pierce on Getting Over A Fear of Insects
5. ↑ A Life with Lycaenids, Naomi Pierce goes beyond Nabokov.
6. ↑ It Takes Two: Andrew Berry & Naomi E. Pierce
7. ↑ Pierce Laboratory ( Memento of the original from May 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ Ants older than expected. The triumphant advance began with the spread of flowering plants.
9. ^ Biology: How Life Works
10. ↑ Naomi E. Pierce, ESA Fellow (2011)