Austin Chipps

I am an evolutionary biologist dedicated to collecting and using natural history specimens to answer fundamental questions of mammalian evolution. Specifically, my research combines fieldwork with comparative genomics and phylogenomics to better understand the evolutionary mechanisms underlying species richness and morphological novelty of small mammals. Here at the NMNH, I am working with colleagues to characterize Areas of Endemism (AoEs) in Borneo and test hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying high species richness in Bornean small mammals.

Stevens TK, Biffi D, Chipps AS, Hale AM, and Williams DA. Novel applications of resistance to dispersal mapping identify urban landscape features as impediments to dispersal for a habitat specialist stranded in North America’s largest urban habitat island. 2025. Ecosphere 16(8): e70343.

Giarla TC, Achmadi AS, Fabre PH, Handika H, Chipps AS, Swanson MT, Nations JA, Morni MA, William-Dee J, Inayah N, Jayanti ED, Jaya Putra Nurdin MRT, Griffin KE, Khan FAA, Heaney LR, Rowe KC, and Esselstyn JA. Systematics and historical biogeography of Crunomys and Maxomys (Muridae: Murinae), with the description of a new species from Sulawesi and new genus-level classification. 2025. Journal of Mammalogy: gyaf006.

Weaver SP, Hale AM, Nelson DM, Fritts SR, Katzner T, Chipps AS, Korstian JM, LiCari ST, Nagel J, and Williams DA. Spatiotemporal patterns in sex ratios of bat fatalities at wind energy facilities in the United States. 2025. Global Ecology and Conservation: e03672. 

Ball L, Bedoya A, Rodriguez-Machado S, Paredes-Burneo D, Rutledge S, Boyd D, Vander Pluym D, Babb-Biernacki S, Chipps AS, Chakrabarty P, Ozturk R, and Terzi Y. What “unexplored” means: Mapping regions with digitized natural history records to look for “biodiversity blindspots”. 2025. PeerJ 13: e18511. 

Chipps AS, Hale AM, Weaver SP, and Williams DA. Genetic diversity, population structure, and effective population size in two yellow bat species in south Texas. 2020. PeerJ 8: e10348

Chipps AS, Hale AM, Weaver SP, and Williams DA. Genetic Approaches Are Necessary to Accurately Understand Bat-Wind Turbine Impacts. 2020. Diversity 12:236.

Benedict RA, Chipps AS, Heatwole R, Howell D, Mandi DA, Oblander A, Clough JR, and Roush S. Geographic distribution, reproduction, and seasonal activity of bats in Iowa. 2020. Western North American Naturalist 80:3, 292-315.