Rate My Professor Martyn Kennedy

Dr. Martyn Kennedy is a research fellow in the Department of Zoology within the Sciences Division at the University of Otago. His research interests encompass molecular systematics, phylogenetic methods, evolutionary biology, the evolution of behaviour, biogeography, host/parasite cophylogeny, behavioural ecology, and foraging models. A significant portion of his work examines seabirds, particularly suliform birds (previously classified as pelecaniforms), and New Zealand land snails. Kennedy has contributed to advancements in understanding phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary processes through molecular analyses of diverse taxa.

Kennedy teaches undergraduate courses including GENE 222 Genes, Chromosomes and Populations, MARI 302 Biology and Behaviour of Marine Vertebrates, and ZOOL 410 Evolutionary Genetics. His career includes prior roles as a research associate in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago from 1999 to 2002 and at the University of Glasgow's Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology. He currently conducts research in the laboratory of Professor Graham P. Wallis. Key publications include 'Can ecological theory predict the distribution of foraging animals? A critical analysis of experiments on the ideal free distribution' (Kennedy and Gray, Oikos, 1993); 'Seabird supertrees: combining partial estimates of procellariiform phylogeny' (Kennedy and Page, Auk, 2002); 'Untangling long branches: identifying conflicting phylogenetic signals using spectral analysis, neighbor-net, and consensus networks' (Kennedy et al., Systematic Biology, 2005); 'Multiple cophylogenetic analyses reveal frequent cospeciation between Pelecaniform birds and Pectinopygus lice' (Hughes et al., Systematic Biology, 2007); 'Classification of the cormorants of the world' (Kennedy and Spencer, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2014); 'Phylogeny of the microcormorants, with the description of a new genus' (Kennedy et al., 2023); and 'The radiation of Austral teals (Aves: Anseriformes) and the evolution of flightlessness' (Rosinger et al., 2024). These works have influenced studies on avian phylogeny, biogeography, and co-evolutionary dynamics.