My research career, first as Curator of Birds at the Field Museum and since 1995 as a faculty member in the Department of Ecology Evolution and Behavior at the Univ. of Minnesota, has focused primarily on elucidating phylogenetic relationships in the New World Blackbirds (e.g., blackbirds, meadowlarks, grackles, orioles) in order to better understand patterns of behavioral and morphological evolution.  Since becoming Dean of the Graduate School, I have become interested in supporting research on graduate student experiences in a research university.