Roger Kenneth Butlin is a British evolutionary biologist and professor at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

. He is known for his work on

speciation Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution within ...

. He served as

Editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of ''

Heredity Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic infor ...

'' from 2009 to 2012, and President of the

European Society for Evolutionary Biology The European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) was founded on 28 August 1987 in Basel (Switzerland), with ~ 450 evolutionary biologists attending the inaugural congress of the Society; Arthur Cain became the Society’s first president. The ...

from 2013 to 2015. In 2015 he received the Darwin Wallace Medal.

Education and career

Butlin obtained his PhD in 1983 from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

working in the lab of Tom Day. Butlin then took a postdoctoral position in Godfrey Hewitt's lab for two years at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

In 1987 Butlin took a Royal Society Research Fellowship position at the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

in Cardiff. In 1992 he became a lecturer at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

and from 1994 as reader for evolutionary biology. He is now a professor at the

and

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

Work

Butlin's work is concerned with understanding the genetics of speciation, focusing on reproductive isolation. As a model system, he examines insects and their acoustic and chemical signals, the inheritance of signal characteristics and female preferences. Besides insects, he also studies speciation and adaptation in periwinkles (''

Littorina ''Littorina'' is a genus of small sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Littorinidae, the winkles or periwinkles.WoRMS (2011). Littorina Férussac, 1822. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...

''). His work has contributed greatly to our current understanding of

Ecological speciation Ecological speciation is a form of speciation arising from reproductive isolation that occurs due to an ecological factor that reduces or eliminates gene flow between two populations of a species. Ecological factors can include changes in the envi ...

Selected publications

* "What do we need to know about speciation?", ''Trends Ecol Evol'' * "Reinforcement: an idea evolving", ''Trends Ecol Evol'' * "The costs and benefits of sex: new insights from old asexual lineages." ''

Nature Reviews Genetics ''Nature Reviews Genetics'' is a monthly review journal published by Nature Portfolio. It was established in 2000 and covers the full breadth of modern genetics. The editor-in-chief is Linda Koch. The journal publishes review and perspective arti ...

'' * "Variation in female mate preference across a grasshopper hybrid zone."''

Journal of Evolutionary Biology The ''Journal of Evolutionary Biology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published monthly covering the field of evolutionary biology. It is owned by the European Society for Evolutionary Biology. The founding editor-in-chief was Stephen C. ...

'' * "Coupling, Reinforcement, and Speciation".''

The American Naturalist ''The American Naturalist'' is the monthly Peer review, peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society of Naturalists, whose purpose is "to advance and to diffuse knowledge of organic evolution and other broad biological principles so as ...

'' * "Male spermatophore investment increases female fecundity in a grasshopper. ''

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

'' * "A framework for comparing processes of speciation in the presence of gene flow." ''

Molecular Ecology Molecular ecology is a subdiscipline of ecology that is concerned with applying Molecular genetics, molecular genetic techniques to ecological questions (e.g., population structure, phylogeography, conservation, speciation, hybridization, biodive ...

''Smadja CM, Butlin RK (2011). A framework for comparing processes of speciation in the presence of gene flow. Mol Ecol 20: 5123–5140.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butlin, Roger Kenneth 1955 births Living people Alumni of the University of Nottingham British evolutionary biologists Academics of the University of Sheffield Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Academics of the University of Leeds