Celine Cortes

Celine Cortes serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Central Washington University. Her academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Oklahoma State University-Center for Health Sciences (August 2023) and a B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (June 2016).

Her research program specializes in North American canid ecology, focusing on wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs. She employs stable isotope analysis, geometric morphometrics, and mitochondrial DNA sequencing to investigate historical niche partitioning, hybridization dynamics, and morphological consequences of resource utilization. Current work emphasizes expanding these methodologies into new geographical territories while maintaining core studies on canid evolution and adaptation.

Dr. Cortes teaches foundational courses including Human Anatomy and Physiology I (BIOL 355), Human Anatomy and Physiology II (BIOL 356), Paleobiology (BIOL 371), and Cadaveric Dissection Independent Study (BIOL 496/596). Her laboratory facilities are housed in Science Building 338C, with contact available via email Celine.Cortes@cwu.edu or phone (509) 963-2825.