Colin M. Orians
Professor
Ecology, plant-herbivore-environment interactions

Curriculum Vitae

Education

• 1990 Ph.D. in Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University
• 1986 Summer Course: Tropical Biology: An Ecological Approach (Offered by Organization for Tropical Studies)
• 1984 B.A. in Biology, Earlham College (Phi Beta Kappa, College Honors, Departmental Honors)

Research and Professional Experience

• 2008- Professor, Department of Biology, Tufts University
• 2001-2008 Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Tufts University
• 1995-2001 Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Tufts University
• 1992-1995 Visiting Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biology, Williams College
• 1990-1992 Post-doctoral Research Associate, Dept. of Biology, Vassar College

Scholarships, Honors & Fellowships

• 2009 Senior Research Semester Fellowship, Tufts University
• 2008 Guest Professor, Swedish Agricultural University, Uppsala
• 2008 Senior Research Semester Fellowship, Tufts Semester
• 2007 Elected Vice-Chair and Chair Elect for the Plant Herbivore Interactions Gordon Research Conference (2010 and 2013 respectively)
• 2005 Faculty Fellow, Tisch College, Tufts University
• 2002 Bullard Fellow at Harvard University
• 1999 Mellon Grant Semester Research Fellow, Tufts University
• 1990 Graduate Student Fellowship, Penn State University
• 1989 NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award
• 1988 USAID Strengthening Grant Funds
• 1987 Noyes Fellowship, Organization for Tropical Studies
• 1986 Noyes Pilot Award, OTS
• 1984 Presidential Scholarship, Earlham College

Grants

• USDA Arthropod and Nematode Biology and Management: Organismal and Population Biology panel. 10/07-9/10. "Herbivore induced changes in plant resource partitioning." ($399,000).
• NSF. 3/07-2/10. "REU Site: Integrative approaches to studying recognitions systems in cells, organisms, and populations." (co-PI, $261,400)
• University College, Tufts University. 7/05-6/07. Carbon Sequestration in Plants: Merging science with science education. ($30,000)
• National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant. 5/1/04-4/31/06. "Does herbivory signal plants to increase nitrogen uptake and bolster nitrogen and starch storage?" (to support PhD Thesis of Ben Babst)
• NSF/NATO Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. 9/1/03-8/31/04. "Modifying effect of vascular architecture on nitrate utilization in trees." (to support visiting scientist Vit Gloser)
• National Science Foundation. 3/15/03-2/28/06. "Tufts REU Site: Mentoring Biological Research as a Collaborative Enterprise."
• Andrew Mellon Foundation. 1/1/00-12/31/04. "Vascular architecture and the response of forest tree species to environmental heterogeneity."
• National Science Foundation. 5/1/00-12/31/03. "RUI Collaborative Research: Introgression of plant resistance traits: Selection on hybrid willows by an herbivorous slug."
• The Nature Conservancy. 7/1/99-2/28/02. "Causes and consequences of pine invasion into coastal plain pond habitats." (to support Master's Thesis of Stephen Craine)
• Massachusetts Environmental Trust. 1/1/1999-12/31/1999. "The Role of Salt Spray in the Conservation of Coastal Sandplain grassland and heathland communities on Martha's Vineyard." (to support PhD Thesis of Megan Griffiths)
• Charles E. Culpeper Foundation. 12/1997-12/1999. "Meeting Emergent Challenges to Environmental Studies Programs: Expansion of the Scope of the Undergraduate Curriculum at Tufts University," Co-PI with R.E. Wetzler, S. Krimsky and J. Schneider.
• EPA, STAR Fellowship for Graduate Environmental Study. 9/1/1997-8/31/00. (to support PhD Thesis of Steven Lower)
• NSF. 1993-1996. "Genetic Analysis of Chemical Variation and resistance to a diverse phytophage community on willow hybrids." Co-PI with R. Fritz and S. Brunsfeld
• REU NSF Supplement. 1995. To support Undergraduate Research
• United States Department of Agriculture. 1992-1994. Plant-Pest Interactions Panel. "Genetic and environmental effects on willow resistance to herbivores in relation to foliar chemistry," Co-PI with R.S. Fritz

Professional Activities (since arrival at Tufts University)

• Editorial Board of Oecologia
• Reviewer of manuscripts for: American Naturalist, Arthopod-Plant Interactions, BBA - Gene Structure and Expression, Biochemistry Systematics and Ecology, Biotropica, Chemoecology, Ecological Entomology, Ecological Applications, Ecology, Ecoscience, Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, Environmental Entomology, Functional Ecology, Journal of Chemical Ecology, Journal of Tropical Ecology, New Phytologist, Oecologia, Oikos, Plant Cell and Environment, Plant Ecology (formerly Vegetatio), Trees: Structure and Function, Trends in Ecology and Evolution
• USDA panel member:  Organismal and Population Biology of Arthropods and Nematodes (2006, 2008); Integrative Biology of Arthropods and Nematodes (2004)
• NSF panel member: NSF POWRE panel (3/00) and NSF CRUI panel (10/96)
• Reviewer grants for NSF, USDA, National Geographic, Israel Science Foundation, Swedish Research Council
  National Meetings:
• Co-organized a Symposium for Ecological Society of America (with N. Underwood, UC Davis)(8/00), Title: “Why variation is not just noise: the influence of variability on plant-herbivore and plant-pathogen interactions.
• Program Chair for Association for Tropical Biology (8/96)

Professional Societies

• Ecological Society of America, Botanical Society of America, American Society of Plant Biology

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

• Tropical Ecology and Conservation
• Population and Community Ecology
• Experiments in Ecology (Research based course)
• Designed and Coordinate Laboratory Program for 2nd Semester Introductory Bio
• Evolutionary Ecology
• Other: Graduate seminars in Chemical Ecology and Plant Ecology

Invited Talks (since arrival at Tufts University)

• 2009
  • Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany
  • Department of Ecology, Swedish Agricultural University, Sweden, Department of Experimental Plant Ecology, Radboud University, Netherlands
  • Center for Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands
• 2008
  • Department of Botany, Stockholm University, Sweden
  • Umea Plant Science Center, Umea University, Sweden
  • Department of Biology, Earlham College
  • Department of Biology, Indiana University
• 2007
  • Plant Herbivore Interactions Gordon Research Conference, Ventura, CA
• 2006
  • Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University
• 2005
  • Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Connecticut;
  • Department of Chemistry, Brookhaven National Laboratory
  • Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland
• 2004
  • Department of Biology, Fordham University
  • Department of Biology, Ithaca College
  • Department of Animal Ecology, University of Umeä, Sweden
• 2003
  • Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University
• 2002
  • Department of Botany, University of Toronto
  • Biology Department, Boston University
  • Geology Department, Boston University
  • Harvard Forest, Harvard University
• 1999
  • Institute of Ecosystem Studies (Millbrook, NY)
  • Holbrook Lab Group, Harvard University.
• 1998
  • Biology Department, Boston University
  • Department of Biology, UMass-Boston
• 1997
  • Department of Biology, UMass-Amherst
  • Pierce and Farrell Lab Groups, Harvard University
  • Bazzaz Lab Group, Harvard University
• 1996
  • Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University
  • Department of Biological Sciences, Mt. Holyoke College
  • Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University
  • Biology Department, Boston University
• 1995
  • Department of Biology, Bowdoin College
  • Department of Biology, Washington University
  • Department of Biological Sciences, University of Denver

Conference Presentations (since 1995)

• 2009
  • Orians, C.M., C. Roma and E. Erkenbrack. IOBC working Group, Granada, Spain
  • Gomez, S., R. Ferrieri, C.M. Orians. IOBC working Group, Granada, Spain
  • Gomez, S., R. Ferrieri, M.J. Schueller, C.M. Orians. International Society of Chemical Ecology
  • Orians, C.M., C. Roma and E. Erkenbrack. Oikos - Nordic Ecological Society.
  • Berbeco, M. and C.M. Orians. Carbon in Northern Forests Conference
  • Berbeco, M. and C.M. Orians. Ecological Society of America
  • Butler, C. and C.M. Orians. Ecological Society of America
  • Thorn, A. and C.M. Orians. Ecological Society of America
• 2008
  • Thorn, A. and C.M. Orians. Ecological Society of America
  • Gomez, S., R. Ferrieri and C.M. Orians. International Society of Chemical Ecology
  • Butler, C. and C.M. Orians. American Society of Plant Biologists Northeast
  • Berbeco, M and C.M. Orians. Northeastern Research Collaborative Conference
• 2007
  • Orians, C.M., B.A. Babst, R.A. Ferrieri. 13th Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships (August 2007 in Sweden)
  • Thorn, A. and C.M. Orians. American Society of Plant Biology (July 2007)
  • Orians, C.M. and B.A. Babst. Gordon Research Conference (invited talk)
  • Babst, B.A., C.-J. Tsai, A. Sjödin, S. Jansson, and C.M. Orians. Gordon Research Conference
• 2006
  • Orians, C.M., E. Verhoeven and B. Babst, American Society of Plant Biology
  • Babst, B. and C.M. Orians, American Society of Plant Biology
  • Thorn, A. and C.M. Orians, American Society of Plant Biology
  • Berbeco, M. and C.M. Orians, Maine Global Climate Change LLC
• 2005
  • Gloser, V., and C.M. Orians. International Botanical Congress, Vienna
  • Zwieniecki, M., V. Gloser, N.M. Holbrook, and C.M. Orians, Harvard Initiative of Plant Biology.
• 2004
  • Babst, B., R.A. Ferrieri, M. Thorpe, and C.M. Orians, 12^th New Phytologist Symposium: Functional genomics of environmental adaptation in Populus.
  • Ellmore, G.E., A. Zanne, and C.M. Orians, Botanical Society of America
  • Orians, C.M., N. Alden, S. Wright, R. Keane, R. Smyth, R.S. Fritz, Ecological Society of America
  • Bledsoe, T and C.M. Orians, Ecological Society of America
  • Gloser, V, R.A. Ferrieri, M. Thorpe, and C.M. Orians, Ecological Society of America
  • Babst, B., R.A. Ferrieri, M. Thorpe, and C.M. Orians, Ecological Society of America
  • Zanne, A., K. Sweeney, M. Sharma, and C.M. Orians, Ecological Society of America
  • Gloser, V., M.A. Zwieniecki, N.M. Holbrook, and C.M. Orians. Gordon Research Conference, NH
  • Babst, B.A., R.A. Ferrieri, D.W. Gray, D.J. Schlyer, M. Schueller, M. Lerdau, and C.M. Orians. Gordon Research Conference, Ventura CA
  • Hochwender, C.G., R.S. Fritz, C.M. Orians, B.R. Albrectsen, and M.E. Czesak. Gordon Research Conference, Ventura CA
  • Smyth, R., C.G. Hochwender, C.M. Orians, R.S. Fritz. Gordon Research Conference, Ventura CA
• 2003
  • Babst, B.A., R.A. Ferrieri, D.W. Gray, C.M. Orians, D.J. Schlyer, M. Schueller and M. Lerdau. International Phloem Conference, Germany
  • Orians, C.M., Sigrid Smith, and L. Sack. Ecological Society of America,
• 2002
  • Orians, C.M. and B. Babst, Harvard Forest Workshop on long-distance transport processes in plants.
  • Orians, C.M., C. Hochwender, B. Albrectsen, R.S. Fritz, 3rd International Poplar Symposium, Uppsala, Sweden
  • Griffiths, M and C.M. Orians, Society for Conservation Biology
• 2001
  • Griffiths, M. and C.M. Orians, Ecological Society of America
  • Orians, C.M., M.M.I. van Vuuren, C. Margerison, and C.G. Jones. Gordon Research Conference
  • Babst, B.A., M.M.I. van Vuuren, and C.M. Orians. Gordon Research Conferenceece
  • Fields, M., F.S. Chew, and C.M. Orians. Gordon Research Conference
• 2000
  • Orians, C.M., and C.G. Jones. Ecological Society of America
  • Jones, C.G., and C.M. Orians. Ecological Society of America
  • Griffiths, M. and C.M. Orians. Ecological Society of America
  • Lower S., and C.M. Orians. Ecological Society of America (presenter: Orians)
  • Attendee - Plant Signaling 2000. 13th Annual Penn State Symposium in Plant Physiology. Penn State University
• 1999
  • Griffiths, M and C.M. Orians. Sponsored by The Nature Conservancy and Marine Biological Laboratories, Woods Hole, MA.
  • Orians, C. M., R. Ricco, and A. Welland. Ecological Society of America
  • Pomerleau, J. and C.M. Orians. Ecological Society of America
  • Lower, S. and C.M. Orians. Ecological Society of America
  • Lower, S. and C.M. Orians. EPA Conference for Recipients of STAR Fellowships
• 1998
  • Ricco, R.A., M. Paisley, A. Welland and C.M. Orians. VI Simposio Argentino de Farmabotanica, Argentina (presenter: Ricco)
  • Lower, S. and C. Orians. EPA Conference for Recipients of STAR Fellowships (presenter: Lower)
  • Orians, C., R. Samberg, M. Griffiths, R. Fritz, B. Roche and S. Brunsfeld. Gordon Research Conference (2/98)
  • Attendee - Frontiers in Plant Biology: Plant Diseases, Pests, and Defense Mechanisms. University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• 1997
  • Orians, C. and L. Sabol. University Wide Teaching Conference on Teaching and Technology. Tufts University,
  • Attendee - Ecological Society of America, Albuquerque, NM
• 1996
  • Orians, C.M., A.K. Smith, S.J. Brunsfeld and R.S. Fritz. Ecological Society of America
  • Bolnick, D.I., C.M. Orians, R.S. Fritz, B.M. Roche and T. Floyd. Ecological Society of America (presenter: Bolnick)
• 1995
  • Orians, C.M., C.L. Huang, P. Zee, M.T.T. Dao and R.S. Fritz. Ecological Society of America
  • Fritz, R.S., B.M. Roche, C.M. Orians and S.J. Brunsfeld. Society for the Study of Evolution (presenter: Fritz)

Outreach Activities (since 1995)

• 2008 Peirce Elementary School - Scientist in Residence
• 2007 Lexington High Science Fair Judge
• 2005 Met with Tufts Alumni to discuss undergraduate research programs
• 2004 Lexington High Science Fair Judge
• 2003 Tropical Forests - Williamstown Elementary School, Williamstown, MA
• 2003 Led a Tufts "Habitat for Humanity" Alumni Tour to Costa Rica
• 2002 Insect mimicry - Brooke Elementary School, Tewksbury, MA
• 2000 African Savannah Ecology - Poughkeepsie Day School, Poughkeepsie, NY
• 1999 Led a Tufts Alumni Tour to Costa Rica
• 1999 Presentation on the Tropics - Arlington Elementary School,
• 1998 Kids to College Program - Brown School, Somerville, MA
• 1997 The World of Camouflage - Arlington Center for the Arts
• 1995 Led a Williams College Alumni Tour to Costa Rica

Committees @ Tufts University

• University
  • Committee on Student Life, Chair (current)
  • International Relations Executive Committee (current). I helped create the new Global Health, Nutrition and the Environment concentration within the IR Major
  • Task Force on Freedom of Expression (2008-2009)
  • Faculty Advisor to the Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium (2006-2007)
• Department of Biology
  • Computer Committee
  • Graduate Admissions Committee
  • Graduate Policy and Programs Committee, Chair
  • Greenhouse Committee, Chair

Graduate Students/Post-Docs Mentored

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