Research Interests
My current research, in the
field of evolutionary ecology, has three themes.
First, I'm interested in
the ecology of resource-tracking and the mechanisms
underlying the distribution of competitors across their
resources. For mobile consumers (like bumble bees)
competing for stationary, renewing resources (like
flowers), what patterns of distribution and abundance
of foragers do we expect to see, and why? Second, I
am studying the relationship between physical wear
and foraging in wild bumble bees, in an effort to link
foraging and life history traits in these organisms.
How does foraging influence the natural degradation
of wings in a social insect—bumble bees—for
whom wing use is essential, and what is the significance
of wing wear to lifespan and lifetime foraging gain?
Third, using the framework of spatial density dependence
from theme one (above), I am interested in detecting
ecological impacts (particularly habitat loss) on pollinator
populations. How does habitat loss affect populations
and the distribution of competitors across resources,
and can we rationalize the scale of the impact using
local perturbations?
I welcome potential graduate students interested in
participating in field research involving any of these
themes, or related projects.
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