Rate My Professor Sean Schoville

Sean Schoville is Professor and Chair of the Department of Entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2009. He also received B.A. degrees with honors in Integrative Biology and in English Literature from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2000. His postdoctoral training included an NSF International Research Fellowship at Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France from 2011 to 2013, a postdoctoral scholar position at the University of California, San Diego from 2010 to 2011, and a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Tsukuba from 2009 to 2010. Schoville joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison as Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology in 2013, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019, and to Full Professor in 2024.

Schoville's research program in molecular ecology investigates biological diversity in insects, the ecological and evolutionary processes that generate it, and strategies for management and conservation. Key themes include rapid evolutionary change, biogeography and local adaptation, biological responses to global change, species diversity, and insect physiology in alpine biology. He directs the Molecular Ecology Lab, applying genomic, ecological, physiological, and morphological approaches. His highly cited publications include 'Testing for associations between loci and environmental gradients using latent factor mixed models' (Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2013), 'Adaptive Genetic Variation on the Landscape: Methods and Cases' (Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 2012), and 'A model species for agricultural pest genomics: the genome of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata' (Scientific Reports, 2018). Schoville has earned the 2026 Distinguished Teaching Award at UW-Madison, the Undergraduate Research Scholars Exceptional Mentor Award (2023-2024), Award for Mentoring Undergraduates in Research (2023), and the Royal Entomological Society Best Paper Award (2020-2021). His contributions extend to editorial roles, committee service, and promoting equity and inclusion in science.