Ellie Park, Multimedia Managing Editor

After leading the Peabody Museum for a decade, David Skelly has begun a yearlong sabbatical, shifting leadership responsibilities to interim director Erika Edwards as the museum continues its post-renovation operations.

Skelly, who has served as director since 2014, said the timing was right to take a sabbatical and return to research questions that have long interested him. While he has continued to run his lab alongside his administrative role, his primary focus has been leading the Peabody through its transformation.

“My museum role, which I love, has occupied most of my time for over a decade,” Skelly said. “With the museum reopened and thriving, this seems like the best chance I will have to take a leave.”

During his sabbatical, Skelly plans to continue his research on amphibian populations and their evolutionary responses to climate change. 

His lab has collected nearly 30 years of data on amphibian populations at Yale-Myers Forest, documenting how environmental shifts influence their ability to survive and adapt.

“The environment has changed. The climate has changed,” Skelly said. “We need to understand more about the role of evolution in responding to human-caused changes in the environment.”

Skelly is collaborating with Yale professor Martha Muñoz, whose research focuses on lizards and their adaptation to rising temperatures. Skelly’s and Muñoz’s teams are comparing behavioral and physiological adaptations across species to identify broader patterns of climate response.

Skelly’s tenure as director included overseeing the Peabody Museum’s comprehensive renovation, which required coordination across multiple departments and external partners.

The renovation aimed to expand the museum’s accessibility and enhance its role in both public engagement and academic research.

“When I became director in 2014, the idea of renovating the entire museum was a fantasy,” Skelly said. “Getting it done, through the teeth of a pandemic no less, was possible only because so many people around the museum, the university, and beyond got behind the idea.”

With Skelly on leave, Yale Provost Scott Strobel appointed Erika Edwards as interim director. A professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, Edwards previously served as director of Yale’s Marsh Botanical Garden. 

She sees her leadership role at the Peabody as an extension of her work at Marsh, where she has focused on bridging research, education and public outreach.

“I view Marsh as a miniaturized version of the Peabody,” Edwards said. “Their missions are completely aligned: both institutions support cutting-edge research programs and undergraduate and graduate education at Yale.”

As interim director, Edwards will oversee the museum’s strategic planning process. A key priority is analyzing visitor survey data to assess how the Peabody’s newly renovated space meets public and academic needs.

Beyond expanding visitor engagement, Edwards hopes to elevate the visibility of research happening at the Peabody. 

While the museum’s collections are a valuable resource for scientific study, she believes the public is largely unaware of the active research programs that curators and faculty conduct behind the scenes.

She hopes to use Peabody’s platform to communicate the importance of collections-based research and its role in advancing fields such as paleontology, biodiversity and environmental science.

“This activity feels a little bit like a hidden secret of the museum — yet it’s a crucial part of our overall mission,” she said. “I hope we can do more to showcase the active research programs of our curators and collections staff and use our platform to communicate the important work that scientists are doing now, every day — and the immeasurable value of that work to society.”

Skelly will return to Peabody in 2026. One of his priorities then will be hiring new faculty curators.

“The Peabody’s faculty curators are the heart and soul of the museum,” Skelly said. “These efforts are critical for the long-term sustainability of the museum and to maximize its benefits for the university and public audiences.”

One effort already underway is securing funding for a new curator in the paleobotany division. This role will enhance research and teaching opportunities related to Peabody’s extensive fossil plant collections. 

The Peabody Museum is located at 170 Whitney Ave.