Robert Murphy

I am a Senior Curator in the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Department of Natural History at the Royal Ontario Museum, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, and Visiting Professor and Senior Research Scholar in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at the Kunming Institute of Zoology.  I also hold adjunct faculty positions at East China Normal University (Shanghai) and Hainan Normal University. My early work concentrated on the evolutionary genetics of reptiles from Baja California, Mexico and I was the first person to study the genetic consequences of plate tectonics. The later discovery of the "Vizcaino Seaway" of Baja California has stimulated much subsequent research.

I undertook postdoctoral studies at UCLA Medical School in flow cytometry and the diagnosis of forms of cancer, as well as the conservation genetics of fishes. My interests concentrate on comparative genomics, genetic adaptation, conservation genetics, and the genealogical relationships of species, usually from amphibians and non-avian reptiles but also from insects, freshwatewr mussels, birds, fishes, mammals and even viruses.  I have collected amphibians and reptiles in diverse foreign places such as Australia, Mexico, Russia, The Republic of Georgia, Armenia, China, and Vietnam, building up one of the world's largest collections of tissue samples for genetic research.

I have published more than 200 academic papers and reports and serve the co-coordinator for the amphibians in the Genome 10K project, as well as the co-coordinator for non-avian reptiles. Another involvement is serving as the coordinator for the amphibians and reptiles in the International Barcode of Life initiative, called Cold Code.

Along with former graduate student Dr. L.A. Lowcock, I wrote and performed the world's first phylogenetic rock opera—ROMMY—in 1989 at the University of Michigan with a cameo performance in Toronto. Although largely rewritten, this novel endeavour was repeated 10 years later in Guelph, Ontario.

I currently have 5 doctoral students in Toronto, and additional students in China, where I work 4 months/year.
Phone: 1-416-586-8099
Address: Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology
Department of Natural History
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
Canada M5S 2C6