Dr. Sylvia Hope

In-House Research Associate
Department of Ornithology & Mammalogy
California Academy of Sciences
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 750-7181
e-mail

RESEARCH INTERESTS
- The early fossil record and basal systematics of modern birds (Neornithes).
- Systematics and evolution of Corvidae: jays, crows, and magpies.
- Avian communication.

EDUCATION
- 1989 Ph.D. Ecology and Systematic Biology, City University of New York.
- 1976 M.A. Biology, San Francisco State University.
- 1960 B.A. Psychology, San Francisco State University.

POSITIONS
- 1970 - 1971 Lecturer in Biology, San Francisco State University.
- 1971 - 1972 Research Assistant, San Francisco State University.
- 1979 - 1980 Adjunct Lecturer, City University of New York.
- 1981 - 1982 Research Assistant, City University of New York.
- 1982 - 1983 Teaching Assistant, City University of New York.
- 1983 - 1984 University Fellow, City University of New York.
- 1985 Sr. Curatorial Assistant, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.
- 1986 - 1988 Research Assistant, City University of New York.

AFFILIATIONS
- 1975 - 1979, Volunteer, and 1985 - 2002, Associate, California Academy of Sciences.
- 1979 - 1984, 1986 - 1988 Graduate Student Associate, Department of Ornithology, American Museum of Natural History, New York.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- 1983 Local Committee, Centennial Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, New
York. - 1983 Convenor, Technical Session on Equipment for Ornithologists, Centennial Meeting, American Ornithologists' Union.
- 1986 Local Committee, Centennial Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, San Francisco State University.
- 1996 Convenor, workshop on the early radiation of modern birds, Fifth International Meeting of the Society for Avian Paleontology and Evolution, June, 1995, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
- 2001 Symposium Co-Chair (with Peter Marler and Hans Slabbekoorn), "Nature's Music: the Science of Bird Song," California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.


PUBLICATIONS

Robertson, D.S., McKenna, M.C., Toon, O.B., Hope, S., and Lillegraven, J.A., 2004. Survival in the first hours of the Cenozoic. Geological Society of America Bulletin 5/6: 760-768.

Robertson, D.S., McKenna, M.C., Toon, O.B., Hope, S., and Lillegraven, J.A., 2004. Comment on "Fireball passes and nothing burns - The role of thermal radiation in the Cretaceous-Tertiary event: Evidence from the charcoal record of North America. Geological Society of America Bulletin Forum, e50-51.

Parris, D. and S. Hope. 2002. New interpretations of birds from the Hornerstown and Navesink formations, New Jersey; in Zhou Z. (ed.), Proceedings of the 5th International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, Beijing, June, 2000. China Science Press.

Hope, S. 2002. The Mesozoic record of Neornithes (modern birds); pp. 339-388 in Chiappe, L. M. and L. Witmer (eds.), Above the Heads of the Dinosaurs. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Hope, S. 1999. A new species of Graculavus from the Cretaceous of Wyoming (Aves: Neornithes); pp. 261-266 in Olson, S. L. (ed.), Avian Paleontology at the Close of the 20th Century: Proceedings of the 4th International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, Washington, DC, June 1996. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology No. 89.

Hope, S. 1997. The Mesozoic record of the Neornithes. J. Vertebrate Paleontology 18(3):51A (abstract).

Newman T. B. , S. Hope, and D. K. Stevenson. 1991. Direct bilirubin measurements in jaundiced term newborns: A reevaluation. Amer. J. Diseases of Childhood 145:1305-1309.

Hope, S. 1989. Phylogeny of the Avian Family Corvidae. Doctoral dissertation, City University of New York. University Microfilms #90-00033, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Mundinger, P. and S. Hope. 1983. Expansion of the winter range of the House Finch: 1947-1979. American Birds 36:347-353.

Hope, S. 1980. Form in relation to function in calls of the Steller's Jay. American Naturalist 116:788-820.



WORK IN PROGRESS
Stem lineage galliform birds from the Middle Campanian of Alberta (with C. Coy.)

Late Cretaceous cormorants from Asia and North America (with E. N. Kurochkin).

The Late Cretaceous record of birds from the Western Interior, North America (with T. Stidham).

The form and function of bird calls (with P. Marler).