Evolution 2026 - Cleveland OH

This year's joint meeting with the Society for the Study of Evolution and the American Society of Naturalists will take place virtually May 20-22, 2026 and in-person June 20-24. Registration is still available at  www.evolutionmeetings.org/, though talk and poster slots are full.

This page will chronicle SSB official events at the meeting. Watch this space for updates and event additions as the schedule becomes available! Don't forget that in the meeting app, you can build and export a custom schedule of all the SSB events. The link to the program and app can be found on the Evolution Program page: www.evolutionmeetings.org/program.html
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In-Person Meeting

Sunday, June 21
  • SSB Members Meeting. 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM, Room 25B 
    • ​This is a meeting for the membership of the Society. Come and learn how the Society is working to serve its membership, and give your input on activities and outputs. All members of the Society are welcome and encouraged to attend. 
Monday, June 22
  • SSB Headshots. Grand Ballroom Prefunction Area 1:30-5:30 PM.
    • Attendees are welcome to come get a professional headshot taken, provided by SSB.
Tuesday, June 23
  • SSB Presidential Plenary. 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM, Grand Ballroom A
    • ​Society Past President Dr.  Jessica Ware will deliver her Presidential Address. 
  • SSB Symposium: Genetic Diversity in Ecological Communities: A new biodiversity pattern that unifies ecological and evolutionary timescales. 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM, Grand Ballroom A
Wednesday, June 24
  • SSB Early Career Mixer. 3:45 PM - 4:15 PM, Room 20.
    • ​Come and enjoy light snacks and beverages at our mixer! People of all career stages are encouraged to come and network our early career members.
Mayr Competition Speakers: Some students who gave Mayr presentations during the virtual are also speaking at the in-person meeting. Go and show your support for our talented early-career members!
  • Diego Paredes-Burneo Rapid diversification of the Tropical Andean flora and its association with gene tree discordance. June 24, 5:00 PM - 5:15 PM, Room 21.
  • ​Alivia Nytko Rare today, common tomorrow: Evolutionary transitions and non-equilibrium dynamics shape species rarity. June 21, 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM, Room 25C. 
  • Matheus Januario Evaluating the accuracy of the stratigraphic-range fossilized birth-death process to estimate the phylogeny of extinct and living Canidae. June 21, 5:15 PM - 5:30 PM, Room 22.
  •  Jorge Carballo Morales Dietary preferences and diversification in fruit-eating bats. June 23, 12:15 PM - 12:30 PM, Room 21.
  • ​Jhan Salazar Salazar​​ From healthy brain to cancer cells: Understanding the origins of glioblastoma through the lens of Darwinian evolution. June 22, 11:45 AM - 12:00 PM, Room 25C.
  • ​ Jon Hoffman Geographic Predictors of Reticulate Evolution Across Deep Time in Toothy Skinks (Plestiodon). Sun, June 21, 3:30 PM - 3:45 PM, Room 23.
Early Career Travel Awardees: Our AICC Committee awards funds to early-career systematists to attend Society-sponsored meetings. Make sure to see the talks given by the excellent researchers supported by these awards! 
  • Maria Ursini Diversification of cactus on Neotropical rocky outcrops in relation to landscape and paleoclimate. June 24, 4:45 PM - 5:00 PM, Room 21.
  • Michaela Rogers Interplay Between Predator-Induced Plasticity and Evolutionary History on Courtship Behavior in Alaskan Threespined Stickleback. June 22, 12:00 PM - 12:15 PM, Room 23.
  • Kelsey Jenkins Functional Implications of Ear Loss in Sand Lizards. June 21, 9:30 AM - 9:45 AM, Room 25A.
  • Maya Enriquez​ Determining genetic mechanisms behind the repeated evolution of cave traits in the Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus). June 22, 4:45 PM - 5:00 PM, Room 25A.

Virtual Meeting

Mayr Symposium Session One: May 21, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM US EST
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GSZz7fqlxn4?si=dTNSl1tGM2KPZXA7
  • 1:30 PM: Aryeh Miller The Genomic Basis of Parallel Adaptive Radiation in Anolis Lizards
  • 1:45 PM: Maria del Rosario MIRANDA Unbounded versus bounded diversity dynamics under an Evolutionary Theory of Island Biogeography 
  • 2:00 PM Diego Paredes-Burneo​ Rapid diversification of the Tropical Andean flora and its association with gene tree discordance
  • 2:15 PM Karunakar Majhi Gulliver's shipwreck: a case of miniaturisation in the genus Asanada (Chilopoda, Scolopendridae)
  • 2:30 PM Alivia Nytko Rare today, common tomorrow: Evolutionary transitions and non-equilibrium dynamics shape species rarity
  • 2:45 PM Matheus Januario Islands reveal eco-evolutionary drivers of extinction resistance across Australia’s vertebrate biota
Mayr Symposium Session Two: May 21, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM US EST
Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/QMiKMC9ctjw?si=r4Ol1AtGzkneV_Jr
  • 3:30 PM: Jorge Carballo Morales Dietary preferences and diversification in fruit-eating bats
  • 3:45 PM: Jithin Johnson Ancient vicariance and museum-type diversification of dispersal-limited soil arthropods in the Western Ghats of India
  • 4:00 PM Jhan Salazar Salazar​​ Repeated colonization and physiological specialization in tropical montane anoles
  • 4:15 PM Rowan French​ Function and macroevolution of exaggerated male antennae in longhorned beetles
  • 4:30 PM Meghan Forcellati​ Well-supported phylogenomic tree suggests an alternative interpretation of chameleon evolution and biogeography.
  • 4:45 PM Jon Hoffman Geographic Predictors of Reticulate Evolution Across Deep Time in Toothy Skinks (Plestiodon)