Each year, the MacArthur Foundation announces its MacArthur Fellows or “Geniuses,” a class of researchers, scientists, artists, entrepreneurs and more who are changing the world through their endless creativity and groundbreaking contributions. And each year, Under the Radar with Callie Crossley highlights New England recipients of the award through its ongoing series “The Genius Next Door.” This is the first installment highlighting the Class of 2024.
Professor Martha Muñoz didn’t grow up on the Caribbean island where her parents were born. Instead, she grew up on the island of Manhattan.
“But as far back as I can remember, I think I had tropical dreams,” Muñoz said. “My parents were born and raised in Cuba. And I listened to their stories of what it was like in the tropics, and of all the organisms that were found there. As far back as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with nature and with the tropics in particular — these places where biodiversity explodes.”
As a child, Muñoz found joy and nurtured her love of nature in green spaces throughout New York City. But it wasn’t until college that she thought to pursue her interests through a career in evolutionary biology.
“I was immediately hooked,” she said. “I learned that evolutionary biologists were trying to answer the really big questions in biology: How did life get here? Why are there so many different types of organisms? How did it arise? How does biodiversity get generated, maintained? What are the factors that threaten it? It felt like evolutionary biologists were answering questions related to the story of us, the story of how we came to be. And it seemed like there was no better way to understand the natural world than through the lens of evolution.”
Her research focuses on the metaphorical motors and brakes of evolution.
“Evolution is not a uniform process. It can proceed very quickly, and sometimes it can be stuck in downtown Boston at rush hour,” she said. “And I study why that is: what factors can speed evolution up, and which factors slow it down.”
Muñoz was studying anole lizards on the island of Hispanola, where she noticed that lizards living in the lush, tropical sea level had the same characteristics as the ones living on the highest mountains of the island.
“I found this to be remarkable,” Muñoz said. “How were they pulling it off? One would think that they are cold-adapted to their cold environment, but it turned out that wasn’t the case. These lizards were incredibly nimble at finding specific places in their habitat during specific times of day that essentially recreated the warm environments to which they were accustomed at low elevation. So in a sense, simply by altering their behavior, they were able to recreate their ancestral low-elevation climate.”
With temperature being a major factor in her research, Muñoz’s work is especially relevant when observed through the lens of climate change and its effects on organisms. And now with the MacArthur Fellowship under her belt, Muñoz said she can dedicate even more time and energy to her groundbreaking research.
“The award itself is a validation that I’m onto something of value in my field of work, and that I’m onto something worth pursuing,” she said. “So it’s this incredible motivator to keep pushing forward.”
Guest
- Dr. Martha Muñoz, professor of environmental biology at Yale University, member of the 2024 MacArthur “Genius” Fellows.
