Kaiya L. Provost | Faculty Profiles

Diplomas/Degrees

Ph.D. in Comparative Biology, Richard Gilder Graduate School, American Museum of Natural History (2020)

Master's in Conservation Biology, Columbia University (2016)

Bachelor's in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University (2014)

Professional Experience

Postdoctoral Fellow, The Ohio State University, 2020-2023

Personal Statement

As a researcher, I wear many hats. My primary specialties are evolutionary biology of birds, with a particular focus on phylogenomics, singing behavior, and bioinformatics.

Recent Courses

Biological Concepts And Methods I I (lab)

Biological Concepts And Methods 1 ( Lab )

Organic Evolution

S/T: Methods In Evolution Labratory

Senior Seminar: Topics In Bio-Capstone

Courses Previously Taught

Quantitative Methods in Machine Learning (at Ohio State University)

Field Bioacoustics (at Ohio State University)

Introduction to Computer Science (at Hunter College, CUNY)

Environmental Biology I and II (Columbia University)

Human Biology and Evolution (Cornell University)

Specialization/Interests

Evolutionary biology

Ornithology

Bioacoustics and behavior

Machine learning (including deep learning)

Southwestern desert organisms

Bioinformatics

Phylogenetics, phylogenomics, and phylogeography

Teaching Philosophy

My goal as a professor and instructor is not just to serve as a firehose of knowledge that students have to figure out how to drink from -- it is to have students learn how to learn. By the time students are finished with my class my goals are to have them know the material, develop communications skills, use critical thinking, and know how to collaboarate. In my classes I try to incorporate many active learning techniques, collaboration in groups, and multiple options for completing assignments when available.

Though I am the professor and facilitator of a class, I am also constantly learning from my students. When my students are engaged in learning, the whole group (including me) interfaces deeply with the material and can access new perspectives.

Articles

Provost, Kaiya; Shue, Yun; Forcellati, Meghan; Smith, Brian. 2022. The genomic landscapes of desert birds are structured by contemporary features. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 39(10), msac200.

Provost, Kaiya; Yang, Jiaying; Carstens, Bryan. 2022. The impacts of transfer learning, phylogenetic distance, and sample size on big-data bioacoustics. PLOS ONE, 17(12), e0278522.

Provost, Kaiya; Myers, Edward; Smith, Brian. 2021. Community phylogeographic patterns reveal how a barrier filters and structures taxa in North American warm deserts. Journal of Biogeography, 48(6), 1267-1283.

Provost, Kaiya; Smith, Brian; Joseph, Leo. 2018. Resolving a phylogenetic hypothesis for parrots: implications from systematics to conservation. Emu – Austral Ornithology, 118(1), 7-21. DOI.10.1080/01584197.2017.1387030.

Provost, Kaiya; Mauck, William; Smith, Brian. 2018. Genomic divergence in allopatric Northern Cardinals of the North American warm deserts is linked to behavioral differentiation. Ecology and Evolution, 8(24), 12456-12478.

Smith, Brian; Merwin, Jon; Provost, Kaiya; Thom, Gregory; Brumfield, Robb; Ferreira, Mateus; Mauck, William; Moyle, Robert; Wright, Timothy; Joseph, Leo. 2022. Phylogenomic analysis of the parrots of the world distinguishes artifactual from biological sources of gene tree discordance. Systematic Biology, syac055.

Tobias, Joseph; Sheard, Catherine; Pigot, Alex; Neate-Clegg, Montague; [...] Provost, Kaiya; [...] Schleuning, Matthias. 2022. AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters, 25(3), 581-597.

Ingala, Melissa; Simmons, Nancy; Wiltsch, Claudia; Krampis, Konstantinos; Provost, Kaiya; Perkins, Susan. 2021. Molecular diet analysis of neotropical bats based on fecal DNA metabarcoding. Ecology and Evolution, 11, 7474-7491.

Conference Presentations

Provost, Kaiya. The answer to “Why don’t you just ask ChatGPT?” Invited talk presented at: Bird Name-a-Thon Panel, American Ornithological Society and Society of Canadian Ornithologists’ Joint Meeting; Aug 11. 2023; London, Ontario, Canada.

Provost, Kaiya; Yang, Jiaying; Carstens, Bryan. Big-data bioacoustics, biogeography, and biases in birds / Uso de Macrodatos en Aves para Bioacústica, Biogeografía, y Sesgos. Talk presented at: 2022 Joint Conference of AOS and Birds Caribbean; Jun. 30 2022; San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA.

Provost, Kaiya; Shue, Stephanie; Forcellati, Meghan; Smith, Brian. Landscape genomics of desert birds reveals that multiple mechanisms cause heterogeneity across chromosomes and species. Talk presented at: Virtual Stand Alone Conference of The American Society of Naturalists 2021; Jan. 11 2021; Virtual.

Provost, Kaiya; Mauck, William, III; Smith, Brian. Genomic differentiation in Northern Cardinals of the North American warm deserts is maintained by behavioral isolation. Talk presented at: Metropolitan Society of Natural Historians Sixth Annual Symposium; Feb. 25 2018; New York, NY.