Roger Butlin

Roger Kenneth Butlin
Born1955 (1955)
CitizenshipBritish
EducationUniversity of Cambridge (BSc) University of Nottingham (PhD)
AwardsDarwin Wallace Medal, 2015.
Scientific career
FieldsEvolutionary biologist
WorkplacesUniversity of Sheffield University of Gothenburg
ThesisThe maintenance of an inversion polymorphism in Coelopa frigida (1983)
Tom Day

Roger Kenneth Butlin is a British evolutionary biologist and professor at the University of Sheffield. He is known for his work on speciation. He served as Editor of Heredity from 2009 to 2012, and President of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology from 2013 to 2015. In 2015 he received the Darwin Wallace Medal from the Linnean Society and was appointed as a Distinguised Fellow of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology in 2019.. He is currently interim editor of the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.


Education and career

Butlin studied Natural Sciences at Jesus College at the University of Cambridge, graduating in 1976. He obtained his PhD in 1983 from the University of Nottingham working in the lab of Tom Day. Butlin then took a postdoctoral position in Godfrey Hewitt's lab for two years at the University of East Anglia In 1987 Butlin took a Royal Society Research Fellowship position at the University of Wales in Cardiff. In 1992 he became a lecturer at the University of Leeds and from 1994 as reader for evolutionary biology. He was a professor at the University of Sheffield and University of Gothenburg until his retirement in 2025.

Work

Butlin's work is concerned with understanding the genetics of speciation, focusing on reproductive isolation. As a model system, he examines insects and their acoustic and chemical signals, the inheritance of signal characteristics and female preferences. Besides insects, he also studies speciation and adaptation in periwinkles (Littorina). His work has contributed greatly to our current understanding of Ecological speciation.

Selected publications

References

  1. ↑ Butlin, Roger Kenneth (1983) The maintenance of an inversion polymorphism in Coelopa frigida. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
  2. ↑ https://eseb.org/society/officers/title=ESEB positions
  3. ↑ https://www.linnean.org/news/2015/06/15/15th-june-2015-medal-winners
  4. ↑ https://eseb.org/prizes-funding/distinguished-fellows/
  5. ↑ "Professor Roger Butlin appointed as Biological Journal Interim…". The Linnean Society. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
  6. ↑ "Roger Kenneth Butlin (DF11-3390-07EC)". www.cienciavitae.pt. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
  7. ↑ Ritchie MG, Butlin RK (2013). Godfrey M. Hewitt (1940-2013), President of ESEB 1999-2001. J Evol Biol 26: 691–692.
  8. ↑ Faria, Rui; Bridle, Jon; Eyres, Isobel; Johannesson, Kerstin; Kulmuni, Jonna; Rafajlović, Marina; Ravinet, Mark; Schön, Isa; Smadja, Carole M.; Snook, Rhonda R.; Tregenza, Tom; Westram, Anja M.; Ritchie, Michael G.; Stankowski, Sean (2026). "A career in pursuit of the origin of species: celebrating Roger Butlin's contributions to the advancement of knowledge and growth of our scientific community". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 39: 561–573. doi:10.1093/jeb/voag016.
  9. ↑ Butlin R, Debelle A, Kerth C, Snook RR (2012). What do we need to know about speciation? Trends Ecol Evol. 27: 27-39
  10. ↑ Butlin RK (1995). Reinforcement: an idea evolving. Trends Ecol Evol 10: 432–434.
  11. ↑ Butlin R (2002). The costs and benefits of sex: new insights from old asexual lineages. Nat Rev Genet 3: 311.
  12. ↑ Butlin RK, Ritchie MG (1991). Variation in female mate preference across a grasshopper hybrid zone. J Evol Biol 4: 227–240.
  13. ↑ Butlin RK, Smadja CM (2018). Coupling, Reinforcement, and Speciation. Am Nat 191: 155–172.
  14. ↑ Butlin RK, Woodhatch CW, Hewitt GM (1987). Male spermatophore investment increases female fecundity in a grasshopper. Evolution 41: 221–225.
  15. ↑ Smadja CM, Butlin RK (2011). A framework for comparing processes of speciation in the presence of gene flow. Mol Ecol 20: 5123–5140.