Wendy Valencia-Montoya, a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows affiliated with the lab of MCB Professor Nick Bellono, has been awarded two of the most coveted honors in evolutionary biology for early-career scientists.
The 2026 Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize by the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) is awarded annually to recognize the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding young evolutionary biologist. Established in memory of Professor Theodosius Dobzhansky — whose foundational work united genetics and evolutionary theory in the twentieth century — the prize reflects his lifelong commitment to nurturing the careers of the next generation of scientists.
Valencia-Montoya’s recognition is made all the more remarkable by a simultaneous honor: she has also been awarded the John Maynard Smith (JMS) Prize by the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), that society’s equivalent early-career distinction. Although both prizes are awarded annually, it is exceptionally rare for the same scientist to receive both honors in the same year. Valencia-Montoya is only the second person in the awards’ histories to do so, and the first in 25 years.
The achievement is a particular source of pride because of the scientific lineage the awards represent. “I feel very honored by these prizes as many evolutionary biologists I admire have received them in the past,” she said, citing past recipients including former Harvard faculty members David Haig, Jonathan Losos, and Franziska Michor as well as Molly Schumer and Mary Stoddard, former members of the Harvard Society of Fellows.
Bridging Sensory Biology and Evolutionary Ecology
Valencia-Montoya’s research sits at the crossroads of evolutionary biology, sensory physiology, and comparative genomics. Working in the Bellono Lab — known for its research of the molecular and cellular bases of sensory systems — she has pursued questions about how specialized sensory cues drive the evolution of mutualisms, with a focus on pollination interactions between insects and plants.
Her work spans several interconnected research programs: she has studied rapid evolution in the face of global change, including how species adapt to climate change and biological invasions; she has explored the evolution of sensory systems in organisms such as octopuses and beetles; and she has developed comparative methods to study species interactions. She was also recognized by the ESEB in part for her commitment to outreach: she was a founding member of the Colombia Society for Evolutionary Biology and designed educational games to teach students about the forces driving evolution.
“I love biodiversity. And love for biodiversity is virtually synonymous with love for evolution,” she said. “What I have always really wanted is to understand how biodiversity arises and is maintained.”
As the Dobzhansky Prize recipient, Valencia-Montoya delivered a plenary talk at the 2026 Evolution meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. The invitation to deliver one of the meeting’s centerpiece lectures places her work before the discipline’s broadest audience. She will also receive a cash prize and will be invited to publish an accompanying article in Evolution, the journal of the Society for the Study of Evolution.
The John Maynard Smith Prize, which she will formally receive at the ESEB Congress in 2027, where she will also deliver a plenary talk. The prize also carries a monetary award, an invited paper for the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, and a six-month Junior Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin.
