Welcome

I am an evolutionary biologist interested in building and deciphering the tree of life. My research integrates data from natural history, ecology, genomics, and paleontology—often through the application of novel computational tools—in order to understand the links between micro- and macroevolution.

I am currently supported by an Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Michigan.

News

October 10, 2025 Invited Keynote at the GSA Pardee Symposium

Jacob Berv will deliver a keynote talk for the Geological Society of America Pardee Symposium on “Impact Cratering and the Evolution of Life.”

September 1, 2025 Travel Grants for Oxford RSE and Banbury Center Workshops

Jacob Berv received travel grants to attend the 2nd Research Software Engineering Workshop at Oxford University and the Scientific Entrepreneurship Workshop at the Cold Spring Harbor Banbury Center.

August 1, 2025 Packard Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Weeks Lab

Jacob Berv began a Packard Foundation–funded postdoctoral appointment in Brian Weeks’ lab at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.

June 22, 2025 Presentation and AI Symposium at Evolution 2025

Jacob Berv presented at the Evolution 2025 conference in Athens, Georgia, and co-organized the sponsored symposium on AI applications in ecology and evolutionary biology.

March 1, 2025 Publication: Cetacean Mandibular Symphysis Diversity

Jacob Berv co-authored “Morphological diversity of the cetacean mandibular symphysis coincides with novel modes of aquatic feeding” in Paleobiology.

February 1, 2025 Publication: Skeletal Trait Measurements for Bird Species

Jacob Berv co-authored “Skeletal trait measurements for thousands of bird species” in Scientific Data.

January 20, 2025 Publication: Habitat-Associated Substitution Rates in Deep-Sea Invertebrates

Jacob Berv co-authored “Habitat-associated evolutionary rates in deep-sea invertebrates” in Evolution.

January 10, 2025 Publication: Phylogenomic Discordance in Murine Rodents

Jacob Berv co-authored “The genomic landscape, causes, and consequences of extensive phylogenomic discordance in murine rodents” in Genome Biology and Evolution.

January 5, 2025 Society for the Study of Evolution Symposium Award

Jacob Berv received a $7,000 symposium organizing award from the Society for the Study of Evolution to support the Evolution 2025 program.

November 15, 2024 Workshop: Visualizing and Presenting Data

Jacob Berv led the Institute for Data & AI in Society workshop on “Visualizing and Presenting Data” at the University of Michigan.

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The banner shows a portion of Salvador Dalí’s Persistence of Memory. Art historian Dawn Adès described the melting clocks as “an unconscious symbol of the relativity of space and time.” In evolutionary biology, time is also relative — and, outside paleontology, rarely absolute. Dalí’s pruned olive tree, overtaken by time, echoes the challenge of reconstructing the tree of life. In the upper left is a nod to Charles Darwin’s note, “I think,” from his famous sketch of a phylogenetic tree.