Joseph "Joe" Felsenstein (born May 9, 1942) is a Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Genome Sciences and
Biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. He is best known for his work on
phylogenetic inference
Computational phylogenetics is the application of computational algorithms, methods, and programs to phylogenetic , and is the author of ''Inferring Phylogenies'', and principal author and distributor of the package of phylogenetic inference programs called
PHYLIP
PHYLogeny Inference Package (PHYLIP) is a free computational phylogenetics package of programs for inferring evolutionary trees (Phylogenetics, phylogenies). It consists of 65 Porting, portable programs, i.e., the source code is written in the prog ...
. Closely related to his work on phylogenetic inference is his introduction of methods for making statistically independent comparisons using phylogenies.
Education
Felsenstein did his undergraduate work at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
where he did undergraduate research under
James F. Crow. He then did doctoral work under
Richard Lewontin
Richard Charles Lewontin (March 29, 1929 – July 4, 2021) was an American evolutionary biologist, mathematician, geneticist, and social commentator. A leader in developing the mathematical basis of population genetics and evolutionary theory, ...
in the 1960s, when he was at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
,
and did a
postdoc at the Institute of Animal Genetics in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
prior to becoming faculty at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
.
Research
In addition to his work in
phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
s,
Felsenstein is also noted for his work in theoretical
population genetics
Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as Adaptation (biology), adaptation, ...
, including studies on selection, migration, linkage, speciation, and the
coalescent
''Coalescent'' is a science-fiction novel by Stephen Baxter. It is part one of the ''Destiny's Children'' series. The story is set in two main time periods: modern Britain, when George Poole finds that he has a previously unknown sister and f ...
.
Awards
Felsenstein is a member of the
National Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the
Darwin-Wallace Medal by the
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
in 2008. In 2009 he was awarded the
John J. Carty Award from the National Academy of Sciences.
In 2013 he was awarded the
International Prize for Biology
The is an annual award for "outstanding contribution to the advancement of research in fundamental biology." The Prize, although it is not always awarded to a biologist, is one of the most prestigious honours a natural scientist can receive. Ther ...
by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
The moth species ''
Ufeus felsensteini
''Ufeus felsensteini'' is a moth in the family Noctuidae. It is only known from the Santa Catalina Mountains in south-eastern Arizona., 2013: A revision of the genus Ufeus Grote with the description of a new species from Arizona (Lepidoptera, No ...
'' was named in his honor.
Personal life
Felsenstein is the older brother of early personal computer designer
Lee Felsenstein
Lee Felsenstein (born April 27, 1945) is an American computer engineer who played a central role in the development of the personal computer. He was one of the original members of the Homebrew Computer Club and the designer of the Osborne 1, the ...
.
[Early History of the Personal Computer]
/ref>
An interview covering aspects of his academic career is part of the Distinguished Faculty Interview Series of the Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felsenstein, Joseph
Living people
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Population geneticists
Evolutionary biologists
Computational phylogenetics
1942 births
University of Washington faculty
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Phylogenetics researchers