Daniel Blackburn is the Thomas S. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Biology, and a winner of the Thomas Church Brownell Prize for Teaching Excellence. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, he earned advanced degrees (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) from Cornell University in zoology, with a concentration in functional and evolutionary morphology. Following graduate school, he took a position as Research Associate with the Dept. of Cell Biology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.  As a Trinity College faculty member, he has taught courses in zoology, histology, neurobiology, and electron microscopy, and served for 10 years as chairman of the Dept. of Biology.  Prof. Blackburn obtained funding to construct Trinity's Electron Microscopy Facility, helped organize national teaching workshops, and collaborated in founding a new organization in science education.  His research focuses primarily on functional morphology and evolution of reproductive specializations in reptiles and other vertebrates, and he has published over 100 papers in such journals as Journal of Morphology, Journal of Experimental Zoology, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Evolution, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Many of these papers have been co-authored with Trinity undergraduates doing research in his lab. 

• Blackburn, D.G., *M.S. Barnes, *C.D. Reimers, *F.A. Appiah, *L.L. Lestz, D. Smith-Paredes, M. Hanson, and B.-A. Bhullar (2020).   How do crocodylian embryos process yolk?  Evidence from developing Alligator mississippiensis.  Journal of Morphology (in press).
• Smith-Paredes, D., O. Griffith, M. Fabbri, L. Yohe, D.G. Blackburn, C.D. Siler, B-A.S. Bhullar, G.P. Wagner (2021).  Cryptomelia in the “limbless skink” Brachymeles lukbani: developmental observations.   Journal of Anatomy (in press).
• Blackburn, D.G. (2020).  Functional morphology, diversity, and evolution of yolk processing mechanisms in embryos of reptiles and birds.  Journal of Morphology (in press).
• Blackburn, D.G. and J.R. Stewart (2020).  Morphological research on amniote eggs and embryos: an introduction and historical retrospective.  Journal of Morphology (in press).
• Hughes, D.F. & D.G. Blackburn (2020). "Evolutionary origins of viviparity in Chamaeleonidae." Zoological Journal of Systematics and Evolutionary Research 58: 284-302.
• Stewart, J.R. and D.G. Blackburn (2020).  Classics revisited, History of reptile placentology IV: Hanni Hrabowski’s 1926 monograph on fetal membranes of lizards.  Placenta 95: 26-32.
• Jacobson, E., H. Lillywhite, & D.G. Blackburn (2020).  Overview of reptile biology, anatomy, and histology.  Chapter 1 in Infectious Diseases and Pathology of Reptiles: Color Atlas and Text, Pages 1-214.  CRC Press, Boca Raton.
• Blackburn, D.G., *L.L. Lestz, *M.S. Barnes, *F.A. Appiah, & L.J. Bonneau (2019).  Ultrastructural analysis of the yolk processing pattern in embryonic pond slider turtles (Trachemys scripta: Emydidae).  Journal of Experimental Zoology B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 332: 187-197.
• Stewart, J.R. and D.G. Blackburn (2019). A developmental synapomorphy of squamate reptiles. Evolution and Development 21: 342-363.
• Blackburn, D.G. (2019).  The oviparous olm: analysis and refutation of claims for viviparity in the cave salamander Proteus anguinus (Amphibia: Proteidae).  Zoologischer Anzeiger 281: 16-23.
  
• Blackburn, D.G., *L.L. Lestz, *M.S. Barnes, & *K.G. Powers (2019).  How do embryonic turtles process yolk?  Evidence from the snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina (Chelydridae).   Canadian Journal of Zoology 97: 495-501. 
• Blackburn, D.G. (2018). Viviparity in reptiles and amphibians. Encyclopedia of Reproduction, 2nd ed., Vol. 6, pp. 443-449. Academic Press, Elsevier Press.
• Blackburn, D.G., *L. L. Lestz, *M.S. Barnes, *K.G. Powers, & T. Langkilde (2018). Morphological features of the yolk processing pattern in the Eastern fence lizard, Sceloporus undulatus (Phrynosomatidae). Journal of Morphology 279: 1629-1639.
• Hughes, D.F., D.G. Blackburn, L. Wilber, & M. Behangana (2018). New distribution records, observations on natural history, and notes on reproduction of the poorly known Sudanese Unicorn Chameleon (Chamaeleonidae: Trioceros conirostratus) from Uganda, Africa. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 12: 83-89.
• Blackburn, D.G. (2018). Reproduction in reptiles. Encyclopedia of Reproduction, 2nd ed., Vol. 6, pp. 573-578. Academic Press, Elsevier. 
• Blackburn, D.G., *K.E. Anderson, *K.W. Aronson, *M.K. Burket, *J.F. Chin, S.K. San-Francisco, & I.P. Callard (2017). Placentation in watersnakes I: Placental histology and development in North American Nerodia (Colubridae: Natricinae). Journal of Morphology 278: 665-674.
• Blackburn, D.G., *K.E. Anderson, *A.R. Lo, E.C. Marquez, & I.P. Callard (2017). Placentation in watersnakes. II. Placental ultrastructure in Nerodia erythrogaster (Colubridae: Natricinae). Journal of Morphology 278: 675-688.
• *Powers, K.G. & D.G. Blackburn (2017). A novel pattern of yolk processing in developing snake eggs (Colubridae: Lampropeltini) and its functional and evolutionary implications. Journal of Experimental Zoology B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 328B: 462-475.
• *Powers, K.G. & D.G. Blackburn (2017). Morphological specializations of the yolk sac for yolk processing in embryonic corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus: Colubridae). Journal of Morphology 278: 768-779.
• Blackburn D.G., L. Paulesu, A.M. Avanzati, & *M. Roth (2017). History of reptile placentology, Part III: Giacomini’s 1891 histological monograph on lizard placentation. Placenta 60: 93-99.
• *Kim, Y.K. & D.G. Blackburn (2016).  Fetal membrane ultrastructure and development in the oviparous milksnake Lampropeltis triangulum (Colubridae), with reference to function and evolution in snakes.  Journal of Experimental Zoology B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 326: 290-302.
• Blackburn, D.G.  (2016).  History of reptile placentology.  Part II. Wilhelm Haacke’s 1885 account of lizard viviparity.  Zoologischer Anzeiger 261: 66-69. 
• Blackburn, D.G. & A. Arsov (2016).  W. Somerset Maugham's apocryphal self-description: setting the record straight.  English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 vol. 59: 139-152.
• *Kim, Y.K. & D.G. Blackburn (2015). Ultrastructure of the fetal membranes of the oviparous kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula (Colubridae) as revealed by scanning electron microscopy.  Journal of Morphology 276: 1467-1481.

• Thomas Church Brownell Prize for Teaching Excellence (2015)
• Thomas S. Johnson Distinguished Professorship (2007-present)
• Plenary Speaker, 7th International Meeting of Poeciliid Biologists, University of Oklahoma (2017).
• Plenary Speaker, International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, Barcelona, Spain (2013).
• Symposium Dedication, in recognition of contributions to the field.  4th International Symposium on Viviparous Fishes, Morelia, Mexico (2014).
• NSF Academic infrastructure grant for the Electron Microscopy Facility (Principle Investigator Ann Lehman; co-PI with Christoph Geiss) (2011) $359,000.
• Company of Biologists grant to fund the symposium at the 9th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, Punta del Este, Uruguay (2010).
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant (2004-2007). (Principle Investigator; collaborative grant with Alison Draper and other faculty). $800,000.
• Charles A. Dana Research Professorship (2001-2003)
• Faculty Fellow, Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture (2006-07; 2009-10)
• National Science Foundation, Academic Research Infrastructure Grant. Funds awarded for establishing an Electron Microscopy Facility at Trinity College.
• New England Consortium for Undergraduate Science Education. Funding to establish a new organization in science education, NEURON (North East Undergraduate Research Organization for Neuroscience).
• National Endowment for the Humanities. "Mathematics, Science, and Philosophy: The Role of Laboratories.” (Collaborative grant)