Dr. Dan Greenberg's doctoral research in SFU's Faculty of Science focused on the winning and losing evolutionary species in our modern world of rapid, human-driven environmental change. Specifically, he collected data on the susceptibility and species loss of amphibians facing human pressures across the world to understand how evolutionary history is poised to influence species’ fortunes into the future.  

Greenberg's work is published in influential journals, and he co-authored two commentaries for top science journals, one with each of his co-supervisors at SFU. He also published three of his four dissertation chapters in top journals in his field.

Dr. Greenberg's accomplishments extend beyond the classroom and lab. He was very involved in weekly meetings where Earth to Ocean Research Group graduate students and faculty came together to crowdsource statistical and quantitative tangles, he also gave many talks and participated in the Crawford Lab for Evolutionary Studies, and he formally and informally mentored a large number of undergraduate students.

Co-senior supervisors, Dr. Wendy Palen and Dr. Arne Mooers, describe Greenberg as an "exceptional young scholar and researcher whose raw intellectual talent and creativity have made him one of the best PhD's to come out of our program in the past decade or more."

Says Greenberg, “My doctorate at SFU was a remarkable opportunity to explore some esoteric ideas about the processes that may be operating in Nature. In reflection, these insights pale compared to the invaluable revelations I’ve gained into myself through this entire experience. I am incredibly grateful for all my mentors and peers who have helped me in a myriad of ways along this journey of inner and outer discovery.”

Dr. Dan Greenberg continues to study modern extinctions across other vertebrate groups, and in a future postdoctoral appointment, will analyze three decades of fish biodiversity change across the world's coral reef ecosystems. Ultimately, he aims to understand how humanity's unprecedented ecological impacts are poised to reshape the evolutionary Tree of Life.