CRES Geneticist Named Fellow for American Association for the Advancement of Science

January 18, 2007

Oliver A. Ryder, Ph.D., a geneticist for the Zoological Society of San Diego's center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES) has been named as a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Ryder (pictured at right) was selected for this honor for "outstanding contributions to the understanding of the maintenance of genetic variation in the persistence of populations and the preservation of rare and endangered species."

Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. Each year a select group of members are awarded this honor because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. As a geneticist, Dr. Ryder has worked to preserve endangered species populations by understanding, tracking, and managing their genetic diversity. His work includes species such as the lowland gorilla, California condor, Przewalski's horse, and many others.

"Dr. Ryder has taken a discipline that is largely laboratory based and applied it to the conservation of species in the wild," said Allison Alberts, Ph.D., director of CRES. "This application of a laboratory science to conservation efforts has led to important contributions that have been instrumental in keeping some species from becoming extinct."

Dr. Ryder joined CRES in 1975 as a Research Fellow and currently directs the Genetics Division for the organization. He is the recipient of numerous fellowships, grants, and awards, including the Kleberg Chair in Genetics awarded in 1986. Dr. Ryder served as president of the American Genetic Association in 2001. He has authored or co-authored more than 240 scientific articles and papers on a diversity of conservation and science topics and is often invited to make presentations to professional groups and organizations. Dr. Ryder also holds a position as an adjunct professor in the section of Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution in the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of California, San Diego.