#  Birding Helped Him Soar in Evolutionary Science 

 





May 22, 2026

 

 

     ![two people in a natural history museum, reviewing a specimen](/sites/g/files/omnuum6431/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-06/Ashwin%20Sivakumar_Visitas-TonyRinaldo.jpg?itok=1PpY7zvA) 

Ashwin Sivakumar, at right, shows off specimens at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Photo by Tony Rinaldo



 



 

The [*FAS Current*](https://current.fas.harvard.edu/stories/birding-helped-him-soar-evolutionary-science) featured Ashwin Sivakumar, Integrative Biology Concentrator in Scott Edwards Lab, detailing how his interest in nature shaped his academic pursuits and his work with Harvard Museums of Science & Culture.

Ashwin's work in the Edwards Lab led to his senior thesis which reveals not only a separation in the evolutionary roles of bones and features, but also a discovery that feathers drive differences in wing shape between subspecies, while bones eventually start to contribute to their shape over millions of years.