Principal Ornithologist

Research Interests

Host parasite systems provide an opportunity to study the interface between microevolutionary processes and macroevolutionary patterns. The goals of my current research center around recovering the coevolutionary history of birds and their ectoparasitic lice. The degree of cospeciation varies across different groups of lice. 

Education

PhD, Ecology, University of Minnesota, 1997
BS, Biology, Bethel College, St Paul MN, 1991

Additional Campus Affiliations

Principal Ornithologist, Illinois Natural History Survey
Affiliate, Entomology

Recent Publications

Baldwin-Brown, J. G., Villa, S. M., Waight, E., Johnson, K. P., Bush, S. E., Clayton, D. H., & Shapiro, M. D. (2025). Genomics of Experimental Adaptive Radiation in the Cryptic Coloration of Feather Lice. Genome biology and evolution, 17(5), Article evaf083. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf083

Cai, C., Johnson, K. P., Fu, Y., Gustafsson, D. R., Azar, D., Su, Y., Xuan, Q., Engel, M. S., & Huang, D. (2025). Cretaceous chewing-louse eggs on enantiornithine birds. National Science Review, 12(2), Article nwae479. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwae479

Clodfelter, E. B., Doña, J., Walden, K. K. O., & Johnson, K. P. (2025). Metagenomic analyses reveal three supergroups of Wolbachia in a single genus of feather-feeding lice (Penenirmus). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 211, Article 108387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2025.108387

Johnson, K. P., & Doña, J. (2025). Phylogenomics and biogeography of the feather lice (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) of parrots. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 144(2), Article blae034. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blae034

Najer, T., Doña, J., Buček, A., Sweet, A. D., Sychra, O., & Johnson, K. P. (2025). Phylogenomics reveals the timescale of diversification in Amblycera. Systematic Entomology, 50(3), 540-553. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12668

View all publications on Illinois Experts