Rate My Professor Amy Baird

Amy Baird, Ph.D., is Professor of Biology and Assistant Chair in the Department of Natural Sciences at the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD). She holds a doctoral degree in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Baird joined UHD in August 2011 and has since contributed to teaching and research in the biological sciences, with a focus on evolutionary processes in mammals.

Dr. Baird's research specializations include evolutionary biology, evolution, speciation, genetic diversity, population genetics, phylogenetic analysis, phylogenetics, and phylogeography. Her work examines taxonomic classifications, biodiversity patterns, and genetic variation in species such as tree bats (Lasiurus), bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), and Pacific walruses. Key publications feature "The 2 Sigma Genus Concept in Mammalogy: Lessons from Lasiurus" (PLoS ONE, 2025), which proposes and tests a genetic divergence threshold of two standard deviations for genus delimitation using bat phylogenies; "Hiding in Plain Sight: Molecular Characterization of Cyamids from Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus)" (2025); "SNAPSHOT USA 2019–2023: The First Five Years of Data From a Coordinated Camera Trap Survey of the United States" (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2025); "Novel peeling skin condition in neonatal Pacific walruses, Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska, USA" (2023); "Development of a new SNP panel for bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus)" (2023); "On the utility of taxonomy to reflect biodiversity: the example of Lasiurini (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)" (2021); and "Determinants of genetic variation across eco-evolutionary scales in pinnipeds" (2020). These contributions, garnering over 680 citations, advance standardized taxonomy, conservation genetics, and biodiversity assessment in mammalogy.