Moore Laboratory of Zoology
The Moore Lab unites vintage museum collections with cutting-edge DNA technology. Our mission is to understand how evolution has shaped biodiversity and how organisms cope with environmental change today.Undergraduate Research
The Moore Lab is training the next generation of biodiversity researchers to engage with modern challenges in both the public and private sector.
Highest bird to student ratio
We are a museum of 65,000 vintage bird and mammal specimens at a small liberal arts college in Los Angeles. With our team of students, we conduct cutting-edge research—combining vintage specimens with modern DNA technology—to understand how Earth’s biodiversity got here and where it is headed in the future.
62,776
bird specimens
2,022
bird species
88%
of all hummingbird species represented
2,174
mammal specimens
6,075
specimens from Ecuador
1951
year established
9th
largest university or college collection in the U.S.
Virtual Tour
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the world’s largest Mexican bird collection.
The Moore Lab is the largest collection of Mexican birds in the world. Researchers visit the lab from all over to study the diversity of bird form and color for insight into avian evolution, ecology, and conservation.
The Moore Lab is especially rich in tanagers, family Thraupidae—one of the most colorful bird families on Earth. Our synoptic series of tanagers shows one of every species and is always a highlight of the tour.
With 6,968 specimens representing 88% of all species on Earth, the Moore Lab hummingbird collection is an unparalleled resource. From the smallest (the Bee Hummingbird of Cuba) to the largest (the Giant Hummingbird of Peru) and the weirdest (the Tooth-billed Hummingbird), Moore really made an effort to “collect ‘em all.”
It might surprise you, but only three species in the Moore Lab collection are extinct, due to human causes unrelated to specimen collecting. The Carolina Parakeet was the United States’ only native parrot and went extinct in 1918 due to habitat loss and shooting.
The study of eggs is called oölogy. Eggs come in many sizes, shapes, and colors—and have long interested biologists searching for an adaptive explanation behind this variation. The Moore Lab holds a modest scientific collection of nests and eggs.
The new Moore Lab lobby and meeting space is located in the newly completed Anderson Center for Environmental Sciences building. Jane Kim’s beautiful mural “Southern California from Sea to Sky” adorns the walls.
The new Moore Lab lobby features a map of Mexico and various species of the Los Angeles urban ecosystem as part of Jane Kim’s mural “Southern California from Sea to Sky.”
These parrot specimens were collected in Mexico from 1933-1955 and are now part of the the newly remodeled Robert T. Moore Bird and Mammal Collection.
Maeve Secor ’22 measures Yellow Grosbeaks in the newly remodeled Robert T. Moore Bird and Mammal Collection.
These colorful hummingbird specimens are part of the newly remodeled Robert T. Moore Bird and Mammal Collection.
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Our Team
Dr. McCormack uses museum specimens and genomes to study the evolutionary history of birds, focusing especially on how both ancient landscape changes and more recent human-caused environmental changes affect birds’ distributions, appearance, and DNA.
John McCormack
Director and Curator of the Moore Laboratory of Zoology; Associate Professor, Biology
Whitney has experience with genomics and museum collections. She is currently a PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program at UCLA where she is studying the genetics of color evolution using large-scale biodiversity data. From...
Whitney Tsai Nakashima
Research Associate, Moore Lab of Zoology and Genomics Center
Jenny heads the Moore Lab's outreach activities, planning tours and special events with local schools, collaborators, and the community. She has a background working with environmental NGOs and museums in exhibition programming, event planning,...
Jenny Wong
Project, Outreach and Business Coordinator, Moore Lab of Zoology
Sean studies the historical ecology of birds in Los Angeles County across a temporal gradient using museum specimens, citizen-science data, and field surveys. Concurrent with his work at the Moore Lab, Sean also manages the Cal State Los Angeles...
Sean Lyon
Curatorial Assistant, Moore Lab of Zoology
Brenda has experience working with large citizen science datasets and incorporating them into spatial models to understand species distributions over thousands of years. Having recently graduated with her master’s degree from Cal Poly Pomona,...
Brenda Ramirez
Research Technician II, FLAPP
Marky has been a part of several research projects, of which most have revolved around her love of museum collections. She is also an avid birder and artist, devoting much of her time to observing and taking notes on the birds she sees. Having...
Marky Mutchler
Research Technician, Moore Lab of Zoology and Genomics Center
Russell has explored his love of animals through a wide variety of lab and field experiences. During his free time he prefers to be outside searching for wildlife with friends and practicing his photography. After graduating from Oregon...
Russell Campbell
Research Technician, oBird
Alana studies the hybridization of two species of Calocitta Magpie-Jays. She has been conducting this research and assisting with collections management since she was a Biology undergraduate at Occidental. She additionally has experience...
Alana Pizarro
Research Assistant, Moore Lab of Zoology
Eliza has been assisting with research in the Genomics Center since she was an undergraduate at Occidental. Since graduating in 2022, she will continue working on various genomics research, such as the Mexican Bird Resurvey Project, managing the...
Eliza Kirsch
Research Assistant, Moore Lab of Zoology and Genomics Center
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