Expertise

My work broadly explores how ecological disturbance impacts biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and phenotypic variation in ants and other insects.

To address gaps in our understanding of the role of ants in temperate systems my work explores two main areas.

  1. Examining how land-use history, management history, soil quality, and plant diversity impact ants and other beneficial ground foraging arthropods.  
  2. Using manipulative studies to discern what roles ants play in temperate systems by impacting soil properties, plant communities and populations of pests, decomposes, or other predators.

Research:

  • Ecology of Body Size in Ants
  • The Role of Ants in North American Grasslands

Subject area:

  • Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation,
  • Physiological Adaptations and Functional Genomics.
Affiliations

Research Assistant Professor, Biology, Auburn University

Assistant Research Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Sciences and Mathematics, Auburn University
2018

Communities
Biological Science
Degrees
PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Biology, 2013
BS, University of California, Davis, Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity, 2006
Keywords
animal behavior or ethology sustainable agriculture ecology entomology grasslands habitats social insects ants beneficial insects