Dr. Swanne Gordon

Cornell University

Dr. Gordon is an Assistant Professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. She earned her MSc at McGill University, her PhD at University of California Riverside, and was an Academy of Finland postdoctoral fellow at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. Prior to her appointment at Cornell, Dr. Gordon was an Assistant Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research uses multiple taxa and a combination of field, laboratory, mathematical, and behavioral experiments to study the selective forces maintaining species trait diversity under rapid environmental change in four main areas:
1) rapid evolution to novel environments;
2) warning colour polymorphism;
3) urban ecology; and
4) the role of behaviour on global stream ecosystem dynamics.

Each area, critical to helping develop generalizable and effective responses to our current climate and biodiversity crises. Her research and passions also broadly focus on increasing diversity in STEMM and academic leadership, decolonizing education and academia, scientific communication, especially in underserved communities, and on providing safe and inclusive institutional spaces where everyone feels welcome to pursue and be passionate about research.