David Blackburn

Curator of Amphibians & Reptiles
Florida Museum of Natural History
University of Florida

CV (.pdf)
 

Biography—

Dave Blackburn is the curator of amphibians & reptiles in the University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History. He is a museum-based scientist who has published extensively on the diversity and evolution of amphibians, especially frogs. Following an undergraduate degree in biology at the University of Chicago, he completed his doctorate at Harvard University while working with the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. A postdoctoral researcher position at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute then positioned him well for becoming an assistant curator at the California Academy of Sciences, where he was based until moving to UF in 2015.

As associate chair of the Department of Natural History, Blackburn helps lead research and collections of nearly 30 faculty curators as well as curatorial staff, postdocs and many students. In his recent role as iDigBio’s director of education, outreach, diversity & inclusion, Blackburn and team led programming that included internships and activities to engage diverse students, including first-generation and low-income, in research and careers in biodiversity science. A primary goal for much of his service is to support students and early career scientists, including via professional societies such as the Society of Integrative & Comparative Biology.

Throughout his career, Blackburn has worked with exhibit teams, museum educators and public school teachers to bring his passion about museums, evolution and amphibians to a broad audience. He is drawn to university-based museums because of their dedication to scholarship, scientific innovation, mentoring and training. His favorite frog is the hairy frog of Central Africa.
 

Education—

University of Chicago
Bachelor's in Biology

Harvard University
Doctorate in Organismic & Evolutionary Biology