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Welcome to Andrew DeWoody’s homepage at Purdue University!  Andrew is a Professor and University Faculty Scholar with appointments in Forestry & Natural Resources (FNR) and in Biological Sciences. Check out our lab Facebook page, too.

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Research Interests:

Conservation genomics; evolutionary biology; molecular ecology; natural history; wildlife and fisheries management.

Our lab group uses genomic and other approaches to study a variety of applied conservation issues and basic evolutionary questions.  Trainees are encouraged to pursue their own specific interests related to a funded project. Often, this means generated data to address conservation issues (e.g., listing and de-listing of endangered species such as snakes and songbirds) but using the same data to answer evolutionary questions (e.g., comparative genomics).
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Funding:

Our work has been funded by a variety of state, regional, and federal agencies. These include ExxonMobil, the Indiana Department of Transportation/Joint Transportation Research Program, the Great Lakes Fishery Trust, the National Birds of Prey Trust, the USDA, the USFWS, the USGS, the BLM, the National Geographic Society, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, the California Division of Fish and Game, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Most of our long-term funding (2005-2022) has come from the National Science Foundation but we are currently (2022-2024) funded by the Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

Honors and Awards (JAD):

  • Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2016, for substantive contributions to molecular ecology and conservation genetics”.
  • Recipient of Purdue University’s 2011 Agricultural Research Award. This Award is the highest honor given by the College of Agriculture’s Research Office and reflects exceptional contributions to the field of ecological and evolutionary genetics”.  The award provides an honorarium funded by earnings of the Charles Guthrie Patterson Memorial Endowment and Matthew Morgan Hamilton Funds. 
  • Recipient of 2011-2012 Outstanding Graduate Educator Award in Forestry & Natural Resources
  • Named a Purdue University Faculty Scholar, 2009. The University Faculty Scholars Program recognizes outstanding faculty members who are on an accelerated path for academic distinction” and includes annual funding for research and/or an honorarium.
  • Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholar 1995-1996 and in 1996-1997.

Service:

Honors and Awards to DeWoody Lab trainees:

  • American Society of Naturalists Graduate Travel Award 2023 (E. Heenkenda) $500
  • Best Student Presentation Award, Indiana Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Spring Meeting 2021 (E. Heenkenda) $400 for travel
  • Best Student Paper Award, Midwest Population Genetics Meeting 2021 (A. Mularo)
  • Most Outstanding Interdisciplinary Project Award, The Graduate School, Purdue University 2020 (S. Mathur) $1000
  • 1st Place, Clarence Cottam Award, Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society 2020 (S. Mathur) $1000
  • Postdoctoral Travel Award 2018 (A. Brueniche-Olsen) $1000
  • Society for the Study of Evolution Graduate Travel Award 2019 (S. Mathur) $500
  • Postdoctoral Travel Award 2018 (A. Brueniche-Olsen) $1000
  • Yeunkyung Woo Achieve Excellence Travel Award 2017 (S. Mathur) $500
  • Welder Wildlife Foundation Fellowship 2017-2021 (S. Mathur) ~ $100,000
  • Kirkpatrick Graduate Memorial Award for Outstanding Student 2015-16 (J. Willoughby)
  • Rosemberg Award, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University 2015 (S. Mathur) $3000
  • Umbarger Outstanding Graduate Student Award in Biology 2015 (B. Wijayawardena)
  • M. Jackson Award 2015, American Society of Mammalogists (J. Willoughby) $2000
  • Hamilton Award Finalist, Society for the Study of Evolution 2014 (J. Willoughby)
  • Research Grant-in-Aid, American Society of Mammalogists 2014 (J. Willoughby) $1500
  • Undergraduate Diversity Award, Society for the Study of Evolution 2014 (N. Fernandez)
  • Kirkpatrick Graduate Memorial Award for Outstanding Student 2013-2014 (N. Marra)
  • NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant 2014-2016 (J. Willoughby) $19,928
  • Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research 2013 (B. Wijayawardena) $500
  • Purdue SURF Graduate Student Mentor of the Summer 2013 (J. Willoughby)
  • Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research 2013 (J. Willoughby) $1000
  • Purdue Summer Undergrad Research Fellowship 2013 (M. Lamb) $4200
  • Purdue Research Foundation Research Grant 2013-2014 (J. Willoughby) $22,000
  • PULSe Outstanding Graduate Student in Teaching Award 2013 (A. Fahey)
  • Purdue Summer Undergrad Research Fellowship 2011 (N. Pulliam) $4200
  • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship 2011-2014 (K. Abts) $90,000
  • NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant 2011-2013 (N. Marra) $15,000
  • Woods Thomas Memorial Fund Award 2011 (A. Fahey) $1500
  • Society for the Study of Evolution Undergraduate Diversity Award 2009 (J. McCreight)
  • American Society of Mammalogists Undergraduate Research Award 2009 (J. McCreight)
  • Indiana Academy of Sciences Research Grant 2008 (J. McCreight) $1500
  • Society of Systematic Biologists Graduate Student Award 2008 (B. Reinhart) $1500
  • American Society of Mammalogists Grants-in-Aid 2007-08 (J. Busch) $1500

Prospective graduate students:

Our lab is nearly always recruiting new graduate students to work on research near the interface of population genetics, molecular ecology, and conservation biology.  Click the link provided Potential Students and Postdocs for more information on some of the unusual circumstances around our lab, click Purdue Forestry & Natural Resources (FNR) Graduate Admission Requirements for more info on the admissions process into FNR (the academic home of most students and Andrew’s primary departmental affiliation), or Purdue Department of Biological Sciences-Graduate Students for admissions into BIOL (where Andrew also holds an appointment and has graduate students).  Contact Andrew directly if you are interested in grad school at Purdue!