Exposito-Alonso recognized for early career excellence by American Society of Naturalists

Palo Alto, CA— Carnegie’s Moises Exposito-Alonso is one of four recipients of the American Society of Naturalists’ Jasper Loftus-Hills Young Investigator Award in recognition of “outstanding and promising work” by individuals who are within three years of completing their Ph.D or in their final year of graduate school.

Exposito-Alonso is an evolutionary geneticist who joined Carnegie last September as a staff associate, a prestigious position designed for early career scientists who are ready to independently deploy creative approaches to challenging research projects. 

His lab is pioneering the use of genomics to ask whether species will evolve and keep pace with global climate change. His team conducts large-scale ecological and genome sequencing experiments, to learn about fundamental evolutionary insights, which they use to generate maps of a species’ genomic susceptibility to global warming that can guide policymakers and management efforts.  

The award is named in honor of a biologist whose “exceptional promise” was cut short in 1974 by a hit-and-run driver while he was doing fieldwork recording frog calls alongside a Texas highway just three years after completing his Ph.D. It has a longstanding history of identifying individuals who go on to have illustrious careers studying ecology, evolution, behavior, and genetics. 

“Moi has a tremendously creative, big-picture approach to plant science and evolution,” said Zhiyong Wang, Acting Director of Carnegie’s Department of Plant Biology. “We are thrilled to have him on our team at Carnegie, where developing bold ideas and defining new fields of investigation have always been core to our mission.” 

The recognition includes a presentation at the society’s annual meeting, an award of $500, a travel allowance, and the cost of registration.