Mercedes Burns
Associate Professor
Biological Sciences
Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building (ILSB) 215
Education
Ph D University of Maryland, College Park 2014
BA Macalester College 2006
About
B.A. Biology, Macalester College (St. Paul); Ph.D. in Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics from University of Maryland, College Park
Research Interests
Evolutionary ecology of reproductive traits and behaviors, sexual conflict, reproductive polymorphism, arthropod biology
Selected Classes
- Fall 2020 BIOL 499 – Undergrad. Lab/Field Rsch
- BIOL 142 – Foundations of Biol: Eco/Evo
- Spring 2020 BIOL 481 – Advanced Topics in Evolution
- Fall 2019 BIOL 483 – Evol: From Genes To Genomes
Intellectual Contributions
Brown, Tyler A., Marinko, Emily, Burns, Mercedes. (2025). The reduction of nuptial gifts in sclerosomatid Opiliones coincides with an increase in sexual conflict-like behaviour. 223 123150 Animal Behaviour.
Brown, Tyler, Tsurusaki, Nobuo, Burns, Mercedes. (2021). Genomic determination of reproductive mode in facultatively parthenogenetic harvestmen. 1. 112 34-44 Journal of Heredity.
Zulekha, Karachiwalla, deCarvalho, Tagide, Burns, Mercedes. (2020). Spermathecal variation in temperate Opiliones. icaa120. Integrative and Comparative Biology.
Orr, Teri, Burns, Mercedes, Hawkes, Kristen, Holekamp, Kay, Hook, Kristin, Josefson, Chloe, Kimmitt, Abigail, Lewis, Kelsey, Lipshutz, Sara, Lynch, Kathleen, Sirot, Laura, Stadtmauer, Daniel, Staub, Nancy, Wolfner, Mariana, Hayssen, Virginia. (2020). It takes two to tango: including a female perspective in reproductive biology. 3. 60 796-813 Integrative and Comparative Biology.
Kahn, Penelope, Cao, Dennis, Burns, Mercedes, Boyer, Sarah. (2018). Comparison of nuptial gift chemistry reveals convergent evolution correlated with antagonism in mating system. 14. 8 7103-7110 Ecology & Evolution.
Burns, Mercedes, Hedin, Marshal, Tsurusaki, Nobuo. (2017). Population genomics and geographical parthenogenesis in Japanese harvestmen (Opiliones, Sclerosomatidae). 1. 8 36-52 Ecology & Evolution.
Burns, Mercedes. Reproductive biology of harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones): a review of a rapidly evolving research field. Current Zoology.