Quinn McCallum

Hello! I am a PhD student in the Mason Lab at LSU, an evolutionary biologist, and a scientific illustrator.

The diversity of animal life has long fascinated me, and I spent much of my youth reading about and drawing animals. As an evolutionary biologist, I now seek to understand the processes that give rise to this spectacular biodiversity. I’m specifically interested in the interplay between habitat specialization, local adaptation, and geography in driving patterns of genomic differentiation during speciation. As an illustrator, I celebrate biodiversity. My work aims to raise awareness surrounding biodiversity loss, and to visually represent evolutionary and ecological processes.

I strongly believe in the mission of museum collections to document biodiversity and act as repositories for future research. Long-term evolutionary research relies on museum collections, therefore contributing to collections is essential. My PhD research makes extensive use of the ornithology collection of the LSUMNS to study phylogeography of high-elevation birds. I am proud to have previously worked for several years as a Digitization and Curatorial Apprentice in the Cowan Tetrapod Collection at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, where I made important contributions to the bird and mammal collections by preparing, accessioning, and imaging specimens.

In my spare time, I enjoy playing board games and tabletop role-playing games, all manner of crafts, and light birding.