I currently facilitate work flow for genealogical DNA testing at the Human Origins Genotyping Laboratory, including public testing for National Geographic's Genographic Project. I received my B.A. in zoology from the University of California at Santa Barbara and my M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources. My background is a combination of wildlife ecology and molecular biology and I try to blend the two to answer pertinent questions about the conservation of species (an emerging field called "conservation genetics"). My area of expertise is herpetology (reptiles and amphibians), and most specifically, tortoises. I am the current president of the Tucson Herpetological Society. I also spent several years in the Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum , a world-renowned natural history museum dedicated to education and conservation. I have worked in a variety of places, including China, Brazil, Mexico and Cameroon. Outside of biology, one of my other research passions is perfecting the perfect martini!

Current Research Projects:

Selected Publications:

Murphy, R.W., K.H. Berry, T. Edwards, and A.M. McLuckie. 2007. A Genetic Assessment of the Recovery Units for the Mojave Population of Desert Tortoises, Gopherus agassizii. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 6(2):229-251. pdf

Engstrom, T.N., T. Edwards, M.F. Osentoski, and E.M. Myers. 2007. A compendium of PCR Primers for mtDNA, Microsatellite, and Other Nuclear Loci for Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises in Defining Turtle Diversity: Proceedings of a workshop on Genetics, Ethics, and Taxonomy of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises. Eds. H.B. Shafer, N.N. FitzSimmons, A. Georges, and A.G.H. Rhodin. Chelonian Research Monographs 4:124-141 pdf

Edwards, T., C.R. Schwalbe, and D.E. Swann, and C.S. Goldberg. 2004. Implications of Anthropogenic Landscape Change on Inter-population Movements of the Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Conservation Genetics 5:485-499. pdf

Edwards, T. C.S. Goldberg, M.E. Kaplan, C.R. Schwalbe, and D.E. Swann. 2003. PCR primers for microsatellite loci in the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii, Testudinidae). Molecular Ecology Notes, 3:589-591. pdf

Goldberg, C.S., T. Edwards, M.E. Kaplan, and M. Goode. 2003. PCR primers for microsatellite loci in the tiger rattlesnake (Crotalus tigris, Viperidae). Molecular Ecology Notes, 3:539-541. pdf

NGS/Lindblad Expeditions: Costa Rica and the Panama Canal, 16-23Feb 2008

Galapagos Islands, Polaris 2007, Lindblad/NG Expeditions

Costa Rica/Nicaragua, 4-11AUG2007
NGS Expeditions Costa Rica 2007 Adventure!
Panama Canal & Costa Rica, Nov 2006