Graduate Program: Research Areas

Concentration in Conservation and the Environment

We emphasize the integration of field and lab work to identify and resolve important conservation problems. Our goal is to apply scientific rigor to applied problems. The faculty focuses on both plant and animal systems.
Suggested Program of Study and Appropriate Courses >

Faculty mentors:

Frances Chew
Colin Orians
Michael Reed

Additional faculty mentors: George Ellmore, Sara Lewis, Michael Romero


Chew Research Group
Dr. Chew's research interests are in insect-plant interactions, particularly ecological and chemical aspects of interactions between native insects and weedy introduced plants, and the evolution of various butterfly groups. Previous graduate students have worked on these questions or have forged their own collaborations with The Nature Conservancy and other interest groups. She is also the Director of the American Studies Program.

Orians Laboratory
Members of the Orians laboratory integrate field and laboratory research in an effort to 1) understand the ecological and evolutionary consequences of hybridization to plant-herbivore interactions, and 2) determine how the responses of plants to their environment affect their growth and/or resistance to herbivores. Our studies examine both the patterns and mechanisms of differential plant performance and herbivore responses. Our approach lends itself to working at different scales: chemical, physiological, or community. Projects include, but are not limited to, the effects of hybridization in willows to plant-herbivore interactions, the effects of soil nutrient patches on aboveground plant growth and herbivore resistance, and the effects of environmental stress on the abundance and distribution of plants.

Reed Research Group
Members of Reed's research group are interested primarily in understanding species persistence and extinction in dynamic landscapes. Current research is on the impacts of industrial forestry practices on biodiversity, and on salamander persistence in areas being fragmented by suburban sprawl. Reed is particularly interested in the interface between individual behavior and population biology.

Ellmore Laboratory
The Ellmore laboratory focuses on plant development and growth strategies in novel environments. Responses of germination, seedling establishment, and root growth to environmental variations, especially those associated with wetlands and tropical sites.

Lewis Laboratory
The Lewis laboratory studies behavior from an evolutionary perspective, and is particularly interested in the ecological context of sexual selection in natural populations. This work uses a variety of model organisms to examine how sex ratios, population density, and parental investment may alter the predicted patterns of courtship behavior and the relative intensity of sexual selection on males and females. Studies on fireflies and the flour beetle Tribolium explore how pre-copulatory and post-copulatory behaviors interact to determine overall reproductive success.

Romero Laboratory
Work in the Romero laboratory integrates several of these levels in examining the adaptive role of stress responses in wildlife populations. The experimental subjects are wild arctic birds and mammals, Galapagos Marine iguanas and captive starlings. This research consists of intimately intertwined laboratory and field studies in the areas of physiology, ecology, and neuroscience, all with the goal of increasing our comprehension of the causes and effects of stress.

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