Dr. R. Graham Reynolds is a Professor of Biology and Director of the University Honors Program. He holds an appointment at Harvard University as an Associate of Herpetology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, is a National Geographic Explorer, and is a Fellow of The Explorers Club. Dr. Reynolds earned a BA in Biology from Duke University, a Ph.D.from The University of Tennessee, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University. Dr. Reynolds is a tropical biologist whose research focuses on endangered species biodiversity and new species discovery on remote islands. In his lab, he uses information from DNA to understand the impact of small population size on genetic diversity and relationships among species. His research is highly collaborative, and he regularly works with institutions such as the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the North Carolina Zoo, Ft. Worth Zoo, the St. Louis Zoo, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, among others. He has traveled extensively worldwide, photographing wildlife to use in his teaching lectures. He has published more than 60 scientific papers and four books, and his research has been featured in the New York Times, Harvard Gazette, Discover Magazine, CNN, Newsweek, National Geographic, El Mundo, the BBC, Scientific American, and Smithsonian Magazine, among others. Dr. Reynolds volunteers with global wildlife conservation organizations, including as a Red List Authority and taxonomy expert for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Education

• Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee Knoxville
• B.A. in Biology, Duke University

Courses Taught

• BIOL 135 Concepts of Ecology and Evolution
• BIOL 173 The Biology of Star Wars
• BIOL 210 Principles of Zoology
• BIOL 350 Vertebrate Field Zoology
• BIOL 480 Senior Seminar

Books

• Reynolds, R.G., R.W. Henderson (Eds). 2026. Boas of the World. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY.
• Reynolds, R.G., R.W. Henderson, L.M. Díaz, T.R. Rodriguez-Cabrera, and A.R. Puente-Rolón. 2023. Boas of the West Indies: Evolution, Natural History, and Conservation. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. 288 pgs.
• Niemiller, M.L. R.G. Reynolds, and B.T. Miller (Eds.). 2013. The Reptiles of Tennessee. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN. 366 pgs.
• ÌýNiemiller, M.L. and R.G. Reynolds (Eds.). 2011. The Amphibians of Tennessee. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN. 369 pgs.

Selected Publications

• Smith, D., D. Barber, J.M. Elden, J.P. Zegarra, M. Hastings, andÌýR.G. Reynolds. Following Chapman Grant’s footsteps: Novel observations of the Virgin Islands Boas (Chilabothrus granti; Stull 1933) in the British Virgin Islands.ÌýHerpetological Conservation and BiologyÌýin press.
• Reynolds, R.G., C. ComÅŸa, and M.L. Niemiller. 2024. Status of the critically endangered Turks Island Skink (Spondylurus turksae).ÌýReptiles & AmphibiansÌý31: e22449.
• Reynolds, R.G.,ÌýM.E. Reger, K.J. Peek, B. L. Raphael, G. Colosimo, A.H. Miller, A. A. Vanerelli, and G.P. Gerber. 2024. Spatial Ecology of the Turks & Caicos Boa,ÌýChilabothrus c. chrysogasterÌýCope, 1871 (Serpentes: Boidae).ÌýThe Herpetological JournalÌý34: 22–34.
• Reynolds, R.G., and A. Cone. 2023. Characterization of visitation of the remote Conception Island National Park using daily satellite imagery.ÌýPARKS The International Journal of Protected Areas and ConservationÌý29: 105–113.
• Reynolds, R.G.Ìý2023. Discovery of a new population of boas on the Turks Bank, Turks and Caicos Islands.ÌýReptiles & AmphibiansÌý30(1): e20268.
• Reynolds, R.G.Ìýand S.T. Giery. 2023. Amphibians of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. Chapter 2, pp. 44–62 In: N. Ríos-López and H. Heatwole (Eds.).ÌýThe Conservation and Biogeography of Amphibians in the Caribbean. Pelagic Publishing, London, UK.
• Reynolds, R.G., and S.D. Buckner. 2022. Characterization of the bird diversity of Conception Island National Park, The Bahamas.ÌýJournal of Caribbean OrnithologyÌý36: 17–25.Ìý
• Geneva, A.J., S. Park, D. Bock, P. de Mello, F. Sarigol, M. Tollis, C. Donihue,ÌýR.G. Reynolds, N. Feiner, A.M. Rasys, J.D. Lauderdale, C.R. Infante, J.J. Kolbe, D. Schluter, D.B. Menke, and J.B. Losos. 2022. Chromosome-scale genome assembly of the brown anole (Anolis sagrei), an emerging model species.ÌýCommunications BiologyÌý5:1126.
• Reynolds, R.G., A.R. Puente-Rolon, and A.J. Geneva.Ìý2022. Natural history and morphometrics of the newly discovered and critically endangered Silver Boa (Chilabothrus argentum; Squamata; Boidae).ÌýCaribbean NaturalistÌý88: 1–20.
• Vanerelli, A., A.H. Miller, L.C. ComÅŸa, A.J. Geneva, andÌýR.G. Reynolds. 2022. Mitochondrial genome of the critically endangered Silver Boa (Chilabothrus argentum; Squamata; Boidae).ÌýMitochondrial DNA Part BÌý7: 1180–1182.
• ÌýReynolds, R.G., A.H. Miller, S.A. Pasachnik, C.R. Knapp, M.E. Welch, G. Colosimo, G.P. Gerber, B. Drawert, and J.B. Iverson. 2022. Phylogenomics and historical biogeography of West Indian rock iguanas (genusÌýCyclura).ÌýMolecular Phylogenetics and EvolutionÌý174: 107548.
• Maayan, I.,ÌýR.G. Reynolds, R.M. Goodman, P.M. Hime, R. Bickel, E.A. Luck, and J.B. Losos. 2022. Fixation and preservation contribute to distortion in vertebrate museum specimens: a ten-year study with the lizardÌýAnolis sagrei.ÌýBiological Journal of the Linnean SocietyÌý136: 443–454.
• Scherrer, R., C.M. Donihue,ÌýR.G. Reynolds,ÌýJ.B. Losos, and A.J. Geneva. 2022. Dewlap color variation inÌýAnolis sagreiÌýis maintained among habitats within islands of the West Indies.ÌýJournal of Evolutionary BiologyÌý35: 680–692.
• Landestoy T., M.A.,ÌýR.G. Reynolds, and R.W. Henderson. 2021. A small new arboreal species of West Indian Boa (Boidae;ÌýChilabothrus) from southern Hispaniola.ÌýBrevioraÌý571: 1–20.

Honorifics

• Fellow of the Explorers Club
• National Geographic Explorer
• Associate, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
• Associate Editor, Journal of Herpetology
• Associate Editor, Caribbean Herpetology

Positions Held

• Harvard University, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, 2014-2016
• University of Massachusetts Boston, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Biology, 2011-2013

Reynolds Lab Website