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Meyer, Christopher

Research Zoologist and Curator of Mollusks

Marine biodiversity, speciation, diversification, biogeography and phylogeography; the history, assembly and maintenance of tropical reef communities; DNA barcoding and metabarcoding; environmental DNA; data and metadata standards, phylogeny and systematics of Cypraeidae and other diverse, reef-associated groups

Geographic Focus

Background And Education

Education And Training

Public Biography

  • Chris is a research zoologist and marine invertebrate curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. He was a Watson Fellow after his undergraduate studies at Colgate University, then received a Masters in Paleontology and a PhD in Integrative Biology both at UC Berkeley. All three of these endeavors focused on cowries, the world’s best known and most spectacular seashells. Chris’s passion for biodiversity takes him to remote places around the globe. He is particularly interested in marine speciation, diversification, biogeography and phylogeography; as well as the history, assembly and maintenance of tropical reef communities. Chris’s work is helping to document marine biodiversity, figure out how ecosystems function, and predict how they will respond to change. Chris was the Director of the Moorea Biocode Project, a massive undertaking to build a comprehensive inventory of all non-microbial life on the French Polynesian island, sampling from the mountain tops to ocean depths. He is one of the founding members of the Indonesia Biodiversity Research Center in Bali, a member of the Scientific Board of the Tetiaroa Society, and also a founding member the Genomic Observatories Network. Chris leads the Global ARMS Program (an effort to survey coral reefs using a standardized approach) and also a consortium of Biocube partners to conduct studies using One Cubic Foot to explore the natural world around us.

Research And Grants

Publications

Selected Publications

Affiliation

Contact

Location

Mailing Address

  • SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
    NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
    Dept. of Invertebrate Zoology   
    MRC-163
    10th & Constitution Aves. NW
    Washington DC 20560   USA

Shipping Address

  • SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
    NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
    Dept. of Invertebrate Zoology   
    MRC-163
    10th & Constitution Aves. NW
    Washington DC 20560   USA