Dr. Wittman received her Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Vermont, where she studied assembly rules and species coexistence patterns of ant communities in Oregon’s Siskiyou Mountains. After completing her Ph.D., she was a Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow at the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya, conducting research on termite ecosystem engineers, plant diversity patterns, and ant-plant mutualisms. She continued her ant ecology research with La Trobe University working on an indirect biocontrol project to understand the mechanisms behind the devastating impacts of the invasive yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes) on Christmas Island, Australia.  Dr. Wittman has come full circle and returned to UVM as a Lecturer, and her areas of teaching expertise include Community Ecology, Sociobiology, Plant-Animal Interactions, and General Biology.