Dahiana Arcila

Dahiana Arcila is an Assistant Professor at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the Marine Biology department. Her research employs genomic and morphological approaches to study the evolutionary history of marine fishes, with particular focus on phylogenetic relationships, biogeographic patterns, and adaptations to deep-sea environments and past climate change events.

Education:

• B.S., Universidad del Quindío, Colombia
• PhD, The George Washington University

Dr. Arcila leads the Fish Evolution Lab, where her team investigates fundamental questions about fish diversification using cutting-edge genomic technologies and comparative methods. Her research program bridges paleontology, developmental biology, and computational genomics to understand how environmental changes shape biodiversity.

Recent publications demonstrate Arcila's focus on deciphering evolutionary patterns in diverse fish groups through phylogenomic approaches. Her work consistently explores themes of adaptive radiation, genomic adaptation, morphological innovation, and the impact of historical climate events on marine diversification. These studies employ diverse methodologies from micro-CT scanning to genome-wide selection scans.