Robert K. Wayne

Robert K. Wayne, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California Los Angeles, UCLA, CA, USA. He obtained his B.A. and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Dr. Wayne’s research interests include application of molecular genetic techniques to questions in systematics, population genetics, sociobiology and conservation. He teaches courses on Conservation Biology and Evolutionary Biology. He is the world's leading authority on population and conservations genetics of canids. The majority of his work on canids has focused on wolf-like canids such as the gray wolf, coyote, red wolf and Ethiopian wolf, however, he has also published on smaller canids such the island, gray, red and Arctic foxes.

Dr Wayne authored more than 180 peer-reviewed publications beginning in 1986. His papers appeared both in specialized journals and in high profile journals such as Nature, Science and PNAS. Dr Wayne is also an editor of several books and book-chapters focused on current topics in molecular ecology and conservation genetics. He is an editor of the leading journal Molecular Ecology and former editor of Animal Conservation.

The group led by Dr Wayne produced classical studies on canid population structure related to management. In the early 1990s, he started using genetic fingerprinting and successfully applying this technique for informing conservation of endangered canids (example, Gilbert, D.A., N. Lehman, S.J. O'Brien, and R.K. Wayne. 1990. Genetic fingerprinting reflects population differentiation in the Channel Island Fox. Nature 344: 764-767). Dr Wayne's research also suggested the possibility that some canid species might have an hybrid origin, thus deserving special management actions (example, Wayne, R.K. ,and S.M. Jenks. 1991. Mitochondrial DNA analysis implying extensive hybridization of the endangered red wolf Canis rufus. Nature 351: 565-568). Dr Wayne’s and colleagues also examined in-depth the origin and domestication of the dogs in Eurasia and North America (example, Science 298: 1613-1616. 2002 and Science 276: 1855-1857. 1997). In general, Dr Wayne’s studies have focused on developing strong links between animal population structures, ecology, evolution and habitat (example, Smith TB, Wayne RK, Girman DJ, et al. A role for ecotones in generating rainforest biodiversity. Science 276: 1855-1857. 1997; and Barratt EM, Deaville R, Burland TM, et al. DNA answers the call of pipistrelle bat species. Nature 387: 138-139. 1997) –i.e., which is the focus of his chapter in our book.