May 1, 2024
Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to announce that Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. She is one of 144 scientists from around the world being recognized this year for their exceptional achievements in original research.
Known for her work on the sensory ecology of butterflies, Professor Briscoe's discoveries have been featured on television and in museums around the globe. Her lab uses butterflies to examine how color vision mediates ecological interactions between butterflies, host plants, and the environment in the context of mimicry and species recognition. Professor Briscoe conducts field and laboratory research that spans genetics, physiology, and behavior to further our understanding of butterflies’ visual and temperature adaptations to climate change. She is particularly well-known for the discovery of new opsins (photoreceptor molecules), her exploration of the links between genetic expression of these proteins and functional behavior, and her application of functional approaches in the study of light-sensitive pigments that lead to color vision.
Professor Briscoe is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Entomological Society. She has won several awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science.
Please join us in congratulating Professor Briscoe on this achievement.
Hal Stern
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
Chancellor's Professor, Department of Statistics
Frank M. LaFerla
Dr. Lionel and Fay Ng Dean, School of Biological Sciences
Distinguished Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior