Curriculum Vitae

Education

Louisiana State University – Aug 2022 to Present
PhD Candidate, Mason Lab

University of British Columbia – Sep 2017 to May 2021
B.Sc. Biology, Honours in Evolutionary Biology. Graduated with Distinction

Emily Carr University of Art and Design – Sep 2012 to May 2016
B.F.A. Major in Illustration

Publications

Peer Reviewed

McCallum, Q., Askelson, K., Fogarty, F., Natola, L., Nikelski, E., Huang, A., & Irwin, D. (2024). Pronounced differentiation on the Z chromosome and parts of the autosomes in crowned sparrows contrasts with mitochondrial paraphyly: implications for speciation. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, voae004. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voae004

De Zwaan, D., Huang, H., McCallum, Q., Owen, K., Lamont, M., and Easton, W. (2022). Mass gain and stopover dynamics among migrating songbirds are linked to seasonal, environmental, and life-history effects. Ornithology 139(4), ukac027. https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukac027

Other Publications

McCallum, Q. A., N. González, P. Gutiérrez, K. J. Burns, P. F. D. Boesman, and N. A. Mason (2024). Giant Conebill (Conirostrum binghami), version 2.0. In Birds of the World (G. M. Kirwan and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi-org.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/10.2173/bow.giacon1.02

Presentations

McCallum, Q. A. Askelson, K., Fogarty, F., Natola, L., Nikselski, E., Huang, A., and Irwin, D. (2025, August 21) Pronounced differentiation on the Z chromosome and parts of the autosomes in crowned sparrows contrasts with mitochondrial paraphyly: Implications for speciation [Invited Presentation]. Stearns Prize Symposium, ESEB 2025 Congress, Barcelona, Spain.

McCallum, Q. A., Mason, N. A. (2025, August 13) Integrative taxonomy and ecogeographic correlates of plumage colour in Conirostrum binghami [Poster]. AOS 2025 Annual Meeting, St. Louis, United States.

McCallum, Q. A., Hosner, P. A., Rahbek, C., Mason, N. A. (2024, Jul 27) Comparative phylogeography of Polylepis-associated birds [Poster]. 3rd Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology 2024, Montréal, Canada.

McCallum, Q. (2022, Oct 7) Extreme sex chromosome differentiation, likely driven by inversion, contrasts with mitochondrial paraphyly between species of crowned sparrows [Seminar Presentation]. LSU Museum Seminar Series.

McCallum, Q.*, Lamont, M.*, De Zwaan, D., Huang, A., Owen, K., Easton, W. (2022, Feb 26) Iona Island as an important refuelling site for migratory songbirds [Keynote presentation]. WildResearch 2022 Annual General Meeting. *co-presenters

McCallum, Q., Askelson, K., Fogarty, F., Natola, L., Nikselski, E., Huang, A., and Irwin, D. (2021, August 9-13) Sex-linked inversion underlies divergence between the Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) and the White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) [Conference presentation]. AOS & SCO-SOC 2021 Virtual Meeting, online.

McCallum, Q., Askelson, K., Fogarty, F., Natola, L., Nikselski, E., Huang, A., and Irwin, D. (2021, July 21-25) Sex-linked inversion underlies divergence between the Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) and the White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) [Conference presentation]. Virtual Evolution 2021, online.

Awards

ESEB Journal of Evolutionary Biology Stearns Graduate Student Prize (2024) – For publication Pronounced differentiation on the Z chromosome and parts of the autosomes in crowned sparrows contrasts with mitochondrial paraphyly: Implications for speciation.

NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship – Doctoral (2023 – 2025) – $101000 CAD to support research on comparative phylogeography of Polylepis birds

Society for the Study of Evolution Graduate Research Excellence Grant R.C. Lewontin Early Award (2023) – $2500 USD to support sequencing for comparative phylogeography of Polylepis birds

American Ornithological Society Student Research Award (2023) – $2500 USD to support sequencing for comparative phylogeography of Polylepis birds

Frank M. Chapman Memorial Fund Research Grant (2023) – $1000 USD to support lcWGS library preparation for comparative phylogeography of Polylepis birds

Society of Systematic Biologists Graduate Student Research Award (2022) – $3000 USD to support DNA extractions and sequencing for comparative phylogeography of Polylepis birds

NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (2019) – To support research on Zonotrichia sparrows with the Irwin Lab

Hesse Undergraduate Summer Research Award in Ornithology (2019) – $3000 for sequencing of GBS library of Zonotrichia sparrow genomes

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant – BIOL 2153: Genetics
LSU – Spring 2023

Teaching Assistant – BIOL 1209: Introductory Ecology and Evolution Lab
LSU – Fall 2022

Service and Outreach

LSUMNS Bird Collection Tours – Kids Day at the Museum
Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science – February 2025

LSUMNS Bird Collection Tours – Audubon Day
Hill Memorial Library, LSU – April 2023, April 2025

Volunteer Facilitator and Trip Leader – Yellow Rails and Rice Birding Festival
Yellow Rails and Rice Birding Festival – October 2022, October 2024

Volunteer Bird Bander – Louisiana Bird Observatory
Louisiana Bird Observatory – Fall 2022 to Present

Director at Large – WildResearch Board of Directors
WildResearch – February 2020 to February 2024

Volunteer Bird Bander – Iona Island Bird Observatory
WildResearch Society – Spring 2018 to Spring 2022

Education and Outreach Volunteer – Education and Outreach Department
Beaty Biodiversity Museum – April 2017 to May 2018

Additional Work Experience

Curatorial Assistant – Division of Ornithology
Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science – August 2025 to Present

  • Identified, catalogued, and installed bird specimens.
  • Organized and participated in collecting trip to Mason County, Texas.
  • Organized and participated in collecting trip to Arequipa department, Peru.
  • Trained junior graduate students and undergraduate volunteers in specimen preparation techniques.
  • Gave tours of the collection to visiting researchers.

Digitization and Curatorial Apprentice – Cowan Tetrapod Collection
Beaty Biodiversity Museum, UBC – May 2018 to April 2019; August 2019 to April 2022

  • Catalogued specimens and entered data to database using Filemaker Pro in conjunction with Microsoft Excel.
  • Photographed museum specimens, edited photographs, sorted photographs taxonomically and uploaded photographs to database.
  • Updated digitization protocols for future student workers.
  • Corresponded with researchers and aided with scientific inquiries.
  • Supervised and directed volunteers.
  • Prepared bird and mammal specimens for museum collection (wings, round skins and partial skeletons).
  • Collected and recorded data, including morphometric measurements, tissue samples and gut analysis.

Assistant Bander in Charge – Iona Island Bird Observatory
WildResearch – Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2022

  • Assisted Bander in Charge in normal operation of banding station, including leading net checks and adhering to station protocols.
  • Responsible for the health and safety of caught birds, including performing difficult extractions, monitoring bird health during banding, and closing nets during unsafe conditions.
  • Trained and supervised volunteers in setting up and taking down mist nets, extracting birds from nets, aging, sexing and identification of birds, data entry in Excel, and applying bands.
  • Educated members of the public about bird science and conservation by demonstrating extraction and banding techniques.
  • Banded 1133 birds and processed 146 recaptures of 59 different species.