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The Conversation
The Conversation
James T. Stroud, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Georgia Institute of Technology

Amid a tropical paradise known as ‘Lizard Island,’ researchers are cracking open evolution’s black box – scientist at work

After gathering data on the captured anole, the team releases it back to the wild. Neil Losin/Day's Edge Prods.

Every morning in Miami, our fieldwork begins the same way. Fresh Cuban coffee and pastelitos – delicious Latin American pastries – fuel our team for another day of evolutionary detective work. Here we’re tracking evolution in real time, measuring natural selection as it happens in a community of Caribbean lizards.

As an assistant professor of ecology and evolution at Georgia Tech, my journey with these remarkable reptiles has taken me far from my London roots. The warm, humid air of Miami feels natural now, a far cry from the gray, drizzly and lizard-free streets of my British upbringing.

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