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Education

PhD. Oxford University(2000)
B.A. University of Arkansas(1977)

Research Interests

Conservation Paleobiology: Understanding the causes of extinction and ecological collapse following human settlement of islands.  Understanding the consequences of those changes for terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

Evolution and Systematics: Evolution of morphological diversity in the perching birds and waterfowl (Passeriformes and Anseriformes).  Biogeograhic origins and evolutionary history of the Hawaiian avifauna.  

Evolutionary Ecology: The evolutionary history of ecological interactions between endemic island birds and plants.

Recent Publications

Thomas, D. B., McGoverin, C. M., McGraw, K. J., James, H. F. and Madden, O. 2013. Vibrational spectroscopic analyses of unique yellow feather pigments (spheniscins) in penguins. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 10(83): 20121065 doi:10.1098/rsif.2012.1065

Wiley, Anne E., Ostrom, Peggy H., Welch, Andreanna J., Fleischer, Robert C., Gandhi, Hasand, Southon, John R., Stafford, Thomas W., Penniman, Jay F., Hu, Darcy, Duvall, Fern P. and James, Helen F. 2013. Millennial-scale isotope records from a wide-ranging predator show evidence of recent human impact to oceanic food webs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(22): 8972-8977. doi:10.1073/pnas.1300213110

Zhang, Zihui, Feduccia, Alan and James, Helen F. 2012. A Late Miocene Accipitrid (Aves: Accipitriformes) from Nebraska and Its Implications for the Divergence of Old World Vultures. PLOS One, 7(11): 1-8. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048842

James, Helen F. 2012. Review of: A Feather in the Cap of Science Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle, book review.. Bioscience, 62(2): 206-207. doi:10.1525/bio.2012.62.2.16

Zhang, Zihui, Huang, Yunping, James, Helen F. and Hou, Lianhai 2012. A Marabou (Ciconiidae: Leptoptilos) from the Middle Pleistocene of Northeastern China. The Auk, 129(4): 699-706. doi:10.1525/auk.2012.11227

Wiley, Anne E., Welch, Andreanna J., Ostrom, Peggy H., James, Helen F., Stricker, Craig A., Fleischer, Robert C., Gandhi, Hasand, Adams, Josh, Ainley, David G., Duvall, Fern, Holmes, Nick, Hu, Darcy, Judge, Seth, Penniman, Jay and Swindle, Keith A. 2012. Foraging segregation and genetic divergence between geographically proximate colonies of a highly mobile seabird. Oecologia, 1: 119-130 doi:10.1007/s00442-011-2085-y.

Zhang, Zihui, Huang, Yunping, James, Helen F. and Hou, Lianhai 2012. Two Old World Vultures from the Middle Pleistocene of Northeastern China and their Implications for Interspecific Competition and Biogeography of Aegypiinae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 32(1): 117-124. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.624146

Welch, Andreanna J., Fleischer, Robert C., James, Helen F., Wiley, A. E., Ostrom, P. H., Adams, J., Duvall, F., Holmes, N., Hu, D., Penniman, J. and Swindle, K. A. 2012. Population divergence and gene flow in an endangered and highly mobile seabird. Heredity, 109(1): 19-28. doi:10.1038/hdy.2012.7

Welch, Andreanna J., Wiley, Anne E., James, Helen F., Ostrom, Peggy H., Stafford, Thomas W. and Fleischer, Robert C. 2012. Ancient DNA reveals genetic stability despite demographic decline: three thousand years of population history in the endemic Hawaiian petrel. Molecular biology and evolution, 29(12): 3729-3740. doi:10.1093/molbev/mss185

Lerner, Heather R L., Meyer, Matthias, James, Helen F, Hofreiter, Michael and Fleischer, Robert C 2011. Multilocus Resolution of Phylogeny and Timescale in the Extant Adaptive Radiation of Hawaiian Honeycreepers. Current Biology, 21(21): 1838-1844. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.09.039

Wiley, Anne E., Ostrom, Peggy H., Stricker, Craig A., James, Helen F. and Gandhi, Hasand 2010. Isotopic Characterization of Flight Feathers in Two Pelagic Seabirds: Sampling Strategies for Ecological Studies. Condor, 112(2): 337-346. doi:10.1525/cond.2010.090186

Boyer, Alison G., James, Helen F., Olson, Storrs L. and Grant-Mackie, Jack A. 2010. Long-term ecological change in a conservation hotspot: the fossil avifauna of Mé Auré Cave, New Caledonia. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19(11): 3207-3224.

Iwaniuk, Andrew N., Olson, Storrs L. and James, Helen F. 2009. Extraordinary cranial specialization in a new genus of extinct duck (Aves: Anseriformes) from Kauai, Hawaiian Islands. Zootaxa, 2296: 47-67.

Reding, Dawn M., Foster, Jeffrey T., James, Helen F., Pratt, H. Douglas and Fleischer, Robert C. 2009. Convergent evolution of 'creepers' in the Hawaiian honeycreeper radiation. Biology Letters, 5(2): 221-224. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0589

James, Helen F. 2009. Repeated Evolution of Fused Thoracic Vertebrae in Songbirds. The Auk, 126(4): 862-872. doi:10.1525/auk.2009.08194

Harbaugh Reynaud, Danica, Wagner, Warren L., Percy, Diana M., James, Helen F. and Fleischer, Robert C. 2009. Genetic Structure of the Polymorphic Metrosideros (Myrtaceae) Complex in the Hawaiian Islands Using Nuclear Microsatellite Data. PLoS ONE, 4(3): e4698

Complete List of James' Publications and Downloadable PDFs