Adjunct Assistant Professor and
Lecturer
Department of Biology, Marsh Life Sciences
University of Vermont
Nephila clavipes juvenile
on an orb web with barrier webs.
I work at the interface of ecology, evolution, and behavior, using a
broadly-distributed spider to study how populations of this species
persist in very different habitats with little obvious
morphological differentiation. In the past, I have focused
on behavioral and physiological ecology to better understand the
environmental factors underlying observed patterns of life history
variation among populations. Currently, I am examining the
relative importance of genetic and environmental factors in adaptation
of juvenile development, size at sexual maturity, and age at sexual
maturity to local environmental conditions.
One major goal of ecologists is to understand the distribution of
organisms across habitats. Many organisms are habitat
specialists,
found only in particular habitats and often associated with a narrow
range
of ecological conditions such as temperature regime, soil types, or
plant
host. The evolution of such habitat specialization has attracted
a lot of attention from evolutionary ecologists. However, habitat
generalists are also a common, and much less studied, phenomenon.
An
understanding of how organisms can survive in a variety of environments
can also aid our understanding of how local adaptation occurs.
The large, tropical spider Nephila clavipes is widely
distributed orb-weaver in the family Tetragnathidae. It is found
from the southeastern United States to Misiones Argentina. Within
this range, it occurs in a variety of habitats, from lowland tropical
rainforests receiving 5 m of rain annually to mid-altitude deserts with
30 mm of rain annually. Using
this spider and related species, I seek to understand the mechanisms
whereby
a single species can survive in diverse environments with little
evidence
of heritable (genetically determined) local adaptations.
Current courses:
Fall, 2006: Introductory Biology (Bio 001),
Science as a way of knowing (Bio
009)
Spring 2007: Introductory Biology (Bio 002,
use WebCT
page), and
BCore 12,
Evolution (Bio 006)
