I am a native of San Francisco, and was inspired to pursue a career in biology by early experiences with the youth program at the California Academy of Sciences and extensive hiking and backpacking in the diverse habitats of California. I put myself through college working for the U.S. Forest Service on the Klamath National Forest during summers as a firefighter and later as a wilderness ranger, and graduated with a B.S. in Zoology from the University of California at Davis. I then moved to the University of Arizona for an M.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and then to the University of Iowa for a Ph.D. in Biology.
As a first-year grad student at Iowa I was on the field crew that first surveyed the 50-hectare tropical forest dynamics plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, under the supervision of Steve Hubbell, and participated in the Organization for Tropical Studies field course. My dissertation, on the effect of leaf chemical characteristics on host plant preferences of the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes, was carried out in Guanacaste National Park, Costa Rica, where I received daily abuse and occasional constructive criticism from Dan Janzen. I subsequently continued to study leaf-cutting ants as a postdoc at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and at Arizona State University before receiving an NSF postdoc to study diet selection at the population and individual levels in polyphagous grasshoppers at the University of Arizona under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Bernays. After a final postdoc with Scott Armbruster on the evolution of resin systems in Dalechampia vines in Panama, I moved to a faculty position at the University of New Orleans.
My lab at UNO has undergone major changes in focus over time. The original focus of the lab was on plant-animal interactions, particularly on fixed vs. flexible behavioral strategies in food acquisition and diet selection by herbivorous insects. During this time foraging by tropical leaf-cutting ants and diet selection by temperate grasshopper species were major topics of investigation, and I also undertook a long-term collaborative study of the impact of herbivores on tropical forest diversity with Walter Carson at the University of Pittsburgh. However, as the only ecologist at UNO for many years, I advised numerous students with interests in local ecology and conservation. In an effort to develop study systems of greater interest to local students I began an investigation of the effect of the invasive tree Triadica sebifera on plant-animal interactions in south Louisiana.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused the loss of computers, equipment, and laboratory insect cultures, and destroyed the field site of the T. sebifera study, completely disrupting my research program for several years. It proved impossible to restart laboratory leaf-cutting ant studies and field work in Costa Rica and Panama due to lack of funding, and the partial data sets recovered after the hurricane were not sufficiently complete to be publishable, effectively ending most of the projects active at that time. Fortunately, all original data sheets from the collaboration with Walt Carson were recovered, and over the next several years the data sets were re-created and over 20,000 images were digitized to ensure their continued survival. These data are the last legacies of the pre-Katrina lab and remain a priority for publication.
I subsequently elected to emphasize sustainable, mostly local research projects and have since developed research on species conservation and management (Henslow’s sparrow, Shackleford Island feral horses, Mississippi sandhill crane) and habitats, particularly on the use of fire in restoration of plant communities. The lab also has returned to Triadica sebifera and other invasive species, focusing on their impacts on native communities and adaptations that promote invasiveness. We collaborate with federal and state agencies (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Forest Service, National Park Service), NGOs (Nature Conservancy) and private conservation groups (Audubon Nature Institute, Woodlands Conservancy) to undertake investigations that generate new insights in basic ecology and that can be applied to the management of species and habitats.
In my spare time I enjoy the rich music, food, and culture of New Orleans, and participate in Carnival as a member of the Jefferson City Buzzards, the oldest marching krewe (parading club) in Carnival. When I moved to New Orleans the krewe assembled at the bar across the street from my house at 6:30 AM Mardi Gras day, and after some years of being awakened by the racket I decided that I might as well join the club since I wasn’t getting any sleep. I am currently helping them digitize photographs and records dating back to the founding of the club in 1890. I also write fiction and poetry, and collect music from the 1960s and 70s as well as Latin America, Brazil, Africa, and New Orleans. I regularly have vivid dreams of the landscapes of the West and occasionally wake up determined to immediately drive west until I see mountains. When I remember that this would require driving across Texas I generally go back to sleep.
As a first-year grad student at Iowa I was on the field crew that first surveyed the 50-hectare tropical forest dynamics plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, under the supervision of Steve Hubbell, and participated in the Organization for Tropical Studies field course. My dissertation, on the effect of leaf chemical characteristics on host plant preferences of the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes, was carried out in Guanacaste National Park, Costa Rica, where I received daily abuse and occasional constructive criticism from Dan Janzen. I subsequently continued to study leaf-cutting ants as a postdoc at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and at Arizona State University before receiving an NSF postdoc to study diet selection at the population and individual levels in polyphagous grasshoppers at the University of Arizona under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Bernays. After a final postdoc with Scott Armbruster on the evolution of resin systems in Dalechampia vines in Panama, I moved to a faculty position at the University of New Orleans.
My lab at UNO has undergone major changes in focus over time. The original focus of the lab was on plant-animal interactions, particularly on fixed vs. flexible behavioral strategies in food acquisition and diet selection by herbivorous insects. During this time foraging by tropical leaf-cutting ants and diet selection by temperate grasshopper species were major topics of investigation, and I also undertook a long-term collaborative study of the impact of herbivores on tropical forest diversity with Walter Carson at the University of Pittsburgh. However, as the only ecologist at UNO for many years, I advised numerous students with interests in local ecology and conservation. In an effort to develop study systems of greater interest to local students I began an investigation of the effect of the invasive tree Triadica sebifera on plant-animal interactions in south Louisiana.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused the loss of computers, equipment, and laboratory insect cultures, and destroyed the field site of the T. sebifera study, completely disrupting my research program for several years. It proved impossible to restart laboratory leaf-cutting ant studies and field work in Costa Rica and Panama due to lack of funding, and the partial data sets recovered after the hurricane were not sufficiently complete to be publishable, effectively ending most of the projects active at that time. Fortunately, all original data sheets from the collaboration with Walt Carson were recovered, and over the next several years the data sets were re-created and over 20,000 images were digitized to ensure their continued survival. These data are the last legacies of the pre-Katrina lab and remain a priority for publication.
I subsequently elected to emphasize sustainable, mostly local research projects and have since developed research on species conservation and management (Henslow’s sparrow, Shackleford Island feral horses, Mississippi sandhill crane) and habitats, particularly on the use of fire in restoration of plant communities. The lab also has returned to Triadica sebifera and other invasive species, focusing on their impacts on native communities and adaptations that promote invasiveness. We collaborate with federal and state agencies (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Forest Service, National Park Service), NGOs (Nature Conservancy) and private conservation groups (Audubon Nature Institute, Woodlands Conservancy) to undertake investigations that generate new insights in basic ecology and that can be applied to the management of species and habitats.
In my spare time I enjoy the rich music, food, and culture of New Orleans, and participate in Carnival as a member of the Jefferson City Buzzards, the oldest marching krewe (parading club) in Carnival. When I moved to New Orleans the krewe assembled at the bar across the street from my house at 6:30 AM Mardi Gras day, and after some years of being awakened by the racket I decided that I might as well join the club since I wasn’t getting any sleep. I am currently helping them digitize photographs and records dating back to the founding of the club in 1890. I also write fiction and poetry, and collect music from the 1960s and 70s as well as Latin America, Brazil, Africa, and New Orleans. I regularly have vivid dreams of the landscapes of the West and occasionally wake up determined to immediately drive west until I see mountains. When I remember that this would require driving across Texas I generally go back to sleep.
