Rate My Professor Sarah Boyer

Sarah Boyer is Professor of Biology and Chair of the Biology Department at Macalester College. She received her BA from Swarthmore College in 1996, MA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1998, and PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University in 2007. Prior to her doctoral studies, she served as a Research Assistant in the Department of Biology at John Carroll University from 1998 to 2001. Following her PhD, she joined Macalester College, advancing from Associate Professor, serving from 2006 to 2016, to her current full professorship. Professor Boyer specializes in invertebrate systematics and evolution, taking a phylogenetic approach to questions in evolutionary biology. She integrates molecular and morphological data to investigate animal diversity and evolution, with particular focus on mite harvestmen (Cyphophthalmi) in Aotearoa New Zealand, including their biogeography, phylogeography, species delimitation, and diversification dynamics. Her research also encompasses the reproductive biology and ecology of local daddy long-legs at Macalester's campus and Ordway Field Station, as well as freshwater mussels.

Professor Boyer's laboratory at Macalester is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, the National Geographic Society, and the National Park Service. She collaborates closely with undergraduate students on fieldwork in New Zealand, California, and Minnesota, leading to discoveries of new arachnid species and co-authored publications. Many former lab members have pursued successful PhD programs and faculty positions. Key publications include "Biogeography of the widespread Aotearoa New Zealand mite harvester genus Rakaia (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) based on UCE-derived subgenomic data" (2026), "Machine learning approaches delimit cryptic taxa in a previously intractable species complex" (2024), "Phylogeography reveals the complex impact of the Last Glacial Maximum on New Zealand’s terrestrial biota" (2022), "A well-resolved transcriptomic phylogeny of the mite harvestman family Pettalidae (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) reveals signatures of Gondwanan vicariance" (2020), and "Regional biogeography of the Gondwanan mite harvestman family Pettalidae" with Gonzalo Giribet (2009). Her scholarship has accumulated over 2,000 citations. As Managing Editor of Macalester Reviews in Biogeography, she contributes to editorial efforts in the field. Professor Boyer teaches Biodiversity and Evolution, upper-level courses in evolution and zoology, and Creatures and Curiosities for non-majors.