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Faculty & Research
Colin M. Orians
Professor
Director, Environmental Studies Program
Ecology, plant-herbivore-environment interactions
Education
B.A., Biology, Earlham College - 1984
Tropical Biology: An Ecological Approach, Organization for
Tropical Studies - Summer 1986
Ph.D., Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University - 1990 Graduate Research Areas:
Ecology and
Conservation Research Interests
Currently our research focuses on the dynamic responses of
plants to environmental heterogeneity. We know a lot about how
plants respond to specific environmental factors but we know
little about how they respond to spatial and temporal variation
in these factors or how these effects are integrated at the
whole plant level. We combine physiological, chemical and
isotope (stable and radio) techniques to elucidate patterns and
identify mechanisms.
Projects in the lab include:
- how herbivory affects the allocation of resources to
chemical defenses and nutrient uptake/storage, and how this
affects subsequent plant resistance
- how the vascular architecture of plants constrains their
responses to patchy nutrient availability, and
- ecological and evolutionary trade-offs in plant form and
function as it relates to long-distance transport of
resources.
Prior research projects include:
- the role of salt spray on plant community structure in
Martha's Vineyard,
- the effects of genotype by environment interactions on
plant traits and resistance to herbivores, and
- the consequences of hybridization among plants to
plant-herbivore interactions.
Courses
Bio 51: Experiments in Ecology
Bio 181: Tropical Ecology and Conservation
Bio 14: Introductory Biology Laboratory Program
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