Academy honors UC Davis professor behind evolutionary genetics research
A professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a prestigious national honor recognizing his contributions to evolutionary genetics.
Graham Coop, the director of the university’s Center for Population Biology, was among nearly 250 new members announced last month by the academy, one of the nation’s oldest scholarly societies. He joins 36 other current and former UC Davis faculty members who have received the same distinction, according to a UC Davis news release.
“This recognition is a credit to everyone who’s worked in our lab over the years,” Coop said. “Science is a team effort, and I’m so pleased on their behalf.”
At UC Davis, Coop has been recognized with the College of Biological Sciences’ Faculty Research Award in 2014, served as a Chancellor’s Fellow from 2015 to 2019, and received the Graduate and Postdoctoral Mentorship Award in 2019.
Coop’s research uses mathematical models and genomic data to explore how natural selection, genetic drift, and environmental forces shape genetic variation in human populations and other species. His lab’s studies have shed light on how humans migrated and adapted to new environments and how traits linked to Neanderthal DNA are gradually being eliminated from the modern human genome.
“One of the most exciting things in our research at the moment is that we’re starting to be able to identify how natural selection has impacted many parts of the human genome simultaneously,” Coop said in the release. “This will allow us to create a really refined view of how selection and genetic drift and other evolutionary forces have shaped the past and present distribution of genetic variation.”
Notable findings from Coop’s lab include a 2013 study showing that nearly all people of European descent share common ancestors from about 1,000 years ago, and a 2006 study, cited as one of Science magazine’s breakthroughs of the year, which showed the divergence of humans and Neanderthals nearly 500,000 years ago.
Originally trained in physics at the University of Oxford, the British-born Coop shifted to biology in graduate school after discovering a deeper interest in applying math to evolutionary questions. He earned his doctorate under population geneticist Robert Griffiths, with additional mentorship from Jonathan Pritchard, a human genetics professor at Stanford who was elected to the academy in 2013.
Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences recognizes individuals across a range of disciplines. Members have included figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin and Martin Luther King Jr.
New members are chosen through a rigorous nomination and election process, according to the academy.
“These new members’ accomplishments speak volumes about the human capacity for discovery, creativity, leadership, and persistence. They are a stellar testament to the power of knowledge to broaden our horizons and deepen our understanding,” said Academy President Laurie L. Patton.
This year’s class includes prominent figures across science, public service and the arts. Inductees include World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and feminist icon Gloria Steinem. Novelist Amy Tan, economist Philipp Strack, and cancer geneticist Kenneth Offit were also among the 248 people honored.
Coop was one of 34 academics from California universities and institutions, and among 22 from UC schools, to be named a fellow this year.