Shane Campbell-Staton, Ph.D.

Shane C. Campbell-Staton is an American evolutionary biologist. Since July 2021, he has been an assistant professor in the ecology and evolutionary biology department at Princeton, where he leads a research group. His work is on how phenotypes respond to human activity that affects the environment. He also hosts the podcast ‘Biology of Superheroes’ together with Arien Darby. Shane is interested in how human history, culture, technology and politics influence life, biological stress and evolution of species around the world. He uses physiology, gene expression, genomics and experimentation to identify genes and traits that allow animals to rapidly adapt to new environmental pressures faced in a human-dominated world. Shane also has a deep passion for sharing science with the public. His own passion for science was kindled through television as a child. Growing up in a small town in South Carolina, he was not exposed to much nature or the outdoors. But watching nature documentaries and TV shows featuring passionate presenters, like Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin, he developed a love for the natural world. Now Shane is sharing his own passions and the wonders of science with a diverse audience through his research as well as visual and audio media.