Paul H. Harvey


Education

Harvey was educated at the University of York where he was awarded Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.

Research and career

Harvey has led the development of robust statistical methods to decipher evolutionary relationships. His work has applied a rigorous basis to the comparative method in evolutionary biology — employed since the days of Charles Darwin — and as such, he has shaped modern thinking in the field. The comparative method of evolutionary biology is used to correlate characteristics between species. Paul pioneered techniques to use the data and knowledge available in modern science, whilst avoiding artefacts, in untangling the evolutionary relationships between organisms. These problem-solving tools for evolutionary studies have become widely used.

Selected publications

Harvey was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1992 in recognition of his status as a leading evolutionary biologist of his era. Harvey was awarded the Scientific Medal and the Frink Award from the Zoological Society of London, the J. Murray Luck Award from the National Academy of Sciences, and the University of Helsinki Medal. He is an ISI highly cited researcher.
From 2000 to 2011, he served as Secretary of the Zoological Society of London
He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 Birthday Honours.