Chelsea Marie Berns is a 2013 graduate of Iowa State University with her Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology. Iowa State University is known for their high quality of research, which Chelsea Marie Berns has conducted while pursuing her degree. In 2013, Chelsea Marie Berns was honored with the Excellence in Research Award from ISU. This award recognized Chelsea Marie Berns as being in the top 10% of Iowa State University Graduate College. Additionally, Chelsea Marie Berns acquired added research experience by serving as a research assistant, research supervisor, and mentor at the university. Chelsea Marie Berns was the recipient for numerous external grants, such as the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, as well as internal fellowships, obtaining over $150,000 in grants and awards during her Ph.D. career.

Most recently, Chelsea Marie Berns received publication of her research, “Becoming different but staying alike: patterns of sexual size and shape dimorphism in hummingbirds” in Evolutionary Biology. Chelsea Marie Berns was particularly excited to be invited to publish “The evolution of sexual dimorphism: Understanding mechanisms of shape differences”, serving as the first chapter in the book “Sexual Dimorphism”.

Prior to her publication in Evolutionary Biology, Chelsea Marie Berns saw publication of multiple research papers, including: 1) “The evolution of sexual dimorphism: Understanding mechanisms of shape differences,” 2) “Size matters, but so does shape: Quantifying complex shape changes in a sexually selected trait in stalk-eyed flies (Diptera:Diosidae),” 3) “Bill shape and sexual shape dimorphism between two species of temperate hummingbirds: Black-chinned Hummingbirds (Archilochus alexandri) and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris),” and 4) “Rates of species diversification and morphological evolution are uncorrelated in plethodontid salamanders.”

Currently, Chelsea Marie Berns is preparing a research paper called, “A Test of the ‘Three-Legged Goat’ Hypothesis Using Natural Populations of the Bushy-Tailed Woodrat, Neotoma cinerea,” along with A.C. Cordero. Chelsea Marie Berns accepted a position in 2013-2014 at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado as a Visiting Assistant Professor. During her time at ASU, Chelsea Marie Berns hopes to complete and publish additional research. “Research is fascinating, and I love uncovering new information that is not already known. It is crucial for the expansion of knowledge as well as the progression of academics” said Chelsea Marie Berns.