Join Us

We are accepting applications from motivated and independent prospective Ph.D. students to join ongoing projects or develop new ones. Our work is multidisciplinary and can combine molecular biology, biochemistry, classical genetics, experimental embryology, and advanced live imaging – you should be prepared to become a multidisciplinary scientist! All projects should be at least somewhat related to our primary research foci (see Research), but students will be encouraged and expected to contribute to project development as their interests evolve.

Interested students should email Cassandra Extavour with a brief statement of research interests.

Students can join the lab as Ph.D. candidates through any one of a variety of graduate programs. No matter which program Ph.D. students in our lab are enrolled in, the majority of the Ph.D. experience will consist of full time research in the Extavour lab with Cassandra Extavour as your primary thesis research advisor.

All of these Ph.D. programs include advanced coursework and teaching opportunities, and benefit from the stimulating academic environment provided by close ties with neighboring labs in several departments. All programs provide stipend, full tuition, and benefits. The differences between the programs lie primarily in the required coursework, teaching requirements, expectations of involvement from other faculty in the form of advisory committees, and the format of their qualifying/candidacy exams.

• The Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB) Ph.D. training program
• The Molecules, Cells and Organisms (MCO) Ph.D. training program
• The Systems Biology Ph.D. training program
• The Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) Ph.D. training program

Because the OEB department only accepts candidates whose interests can be matched with a faculty member, interested applicants should email Cassandra Extavour directly before applying to the OEB graduate program.

The non-OEB programs require students to rotate through at least two labs before finally joining one. Students interested in working in the Extavour lab as a member of these programs are encouraged to contact Dr. Extavour before applying and/or upon acceptance to these programs.

The deadline for applications is generally in the middle of December of each year, for entry in the following academic year. See the links above for information on how to apply to each program. You can apply to more than one program, but pay careful attention to the requirements for each program, as they are not all the same.

The links below provide general information about graduate study at Harvard, and Life Science graduate work at Harvard.

• Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS)
• Harvard Integrated Life Sciences Program (HILS)

We are currently looking for one or more collaborative, self-motivated Postdoctoral Associates to join our lab.

We work on the evolution of development at many different levels of biological organization and scale. We seek to understand the evolutionary origins and modern functions of the genes that govern cell fate decisions during animal development. We often focus on the cell types that ensure that the evolution process can take place at all in multicellular organisms: the germ cells, that produce gametes, and the gonads, which house the gametes. Because we cannot understand evolution by studying a single organism, we use a  wide range of model organisms, most of which are insects, including Drosophila melanogaster and many other species of Drosophila fruit flies. We also employ a wide range of approaches, because we wish to understand evolution from the perspective of the gene, the protein, the cell, the organs, the organism, and the ecological context. Current and previous lab members have had expertise in genetics, microscopy, biochemistry, bioinformatics, molecular evolution, developmental and cellular biology, and behavioural ecology , and we are always interested in  team members who will bring new lenses of inquiry. More information on our research and publications to date can be found on our website.

The Postdoctoral Associate will have the opportunity to study the evolution of development broadly speaking, with some flexibility in choosing the specific technical approaches and model organisms to be used. We are currently particularly interested in scientists with expertise in bioinformatics, biochemistry, biophysics, microbiology, ecology, and mathematical modelling, as we have a number of ongoing research projects that would benefit from applying these ways of solving complex problems.

Projects under three major areas of our research are available:

1. Drosophila Area: Understanding the animal, plant and microbial contributions to the evolution of specific adaptive traits and phenotypic plasticity, using both Drosophila melanogaster and natural populations of wild Drosophila species in Hawaii.
2. Protein Evolution Area: Elucidating the biochemical and biophysical basis of evolutionary change in protein function, with a focus on an insect gene whose ancestral function was likely somatic, and which later acquired essential roles in the germ line.
3. Evo-Devo Area: Using and developing non-traditional model species to study the dynamic evolution of early embryonic, germ cell and gonadal development across 500 million years of insect evolution.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone with an interest in developmental biology, evolution, evo-devo and/or the origins of multicellularity to take leadership roles in helping further existing work and developing new projects within our broad intellectual framework,  while working with other passionate scientists in a collegial, productive and project-driven laboratory.

The success of our research program relies on open and transparent communication between all members of the lab, and on our flexibility in pursuing unusual new research directions that arise as synergistic products of the diverse array of perspectives in the lab. For this reason, Dr. Extavour seeks to maintain a diverse and collaborative lab, where a multiplicity of distinct personal and professional experiences enhance both our intellectual work, and our growth together as a supportive team of people seeking to learn as much as we can individually and collectively.  Dr. Extavour is an experienced mentor with a proven track record of helping her trainees cultivate professional development skills and success in their subsequent independent scientific careers. Former Extavour lab members have gone on to successful careers in academia, industry, education, communication, government and the arts. In addition to professional development opportunities within the lab and exposure to a breadth of scientific disciplines, the Postdoctoral Associate will be able to take advantage of the vibrant scientific communities of Harvard University, the Quantitative Biology Initiative, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Harvard University Herbaria, the Arnold Arboretum, the Harvard Medical School,  and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, as well as the numerous other academic and research institutions in Boston and the surrounding area.