Prof. Don J. Melnick

Prof. Don J. Melnick is professor of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology at Columbia University, as well as executive director and founder of the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC). CERC is a consortium for biodiversity conservation education, training, and research that includes Columbia University, the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Garden, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Wildlife Preservation Trust International. Prof. Melnick was one of Columbia's youngest tenured professors, as well as the Department of Anthropology's youngest chairman in the University's history. His research focuses on conservation biology, population genetics, molecular systematics, organismal evolution, and primate behavioral ecology. He has published over 85 articles, book chapters, and abstracts, and is actively engaged in research projects in Brazil, Kenya, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Prof. Melnick received Columbia's Hettleman Award for Outstanding Teaching and Service, was a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and is a regular lecturer at alumni seminars around the country. He received his Ph.D. in physical anthropology from Yale University.