Insect/Plant interactions.

Ecology and evolution of mutualisms.

Ecology and taxonomy of the Tachinidae (Diptera).

Ph.D. University of California at Los Angeles, September 1998

B.A. Biology, Austin College, May 1989

1998-2000: La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica: Postdoctoral work. In conjunction with Dr. Lee Dyer I am studying the efficacies of lepidopteran larval defenses against parasitoids, with an emphasis on chemical defenses derived from host plants.

1994-1996: La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica: Ph.D. dissertation research. I investigated the possibility of insect/plant mutualisms between parasitoid insects and an extrafloral nectary plant in the Solanaceae.

1999- Lecturer, Mesa State College. Courses: Entomology, Tropical Ecosystems

1999- Resource Person; Organization for Tropical Studies course on Tropical Ecology

1998-2000 Postdoctoral Researcher, Mesa State College; Western Colorado Center for Tropical Research

1997- Resource Person; Organization for Tropical Studies course on Biodiversity

1989-1994 Teaching Assistant in Biology, University of California at Los Angeles

1997- National Geographic Society

1997 - 2000 EARTHWATCH

1995 - U.C.L.A. Department of Biology: Departmental Fellowship

1994 - Organization for Tropical Studies Tropical Fieldwork Fellowship

Ecological Society of America

Entomological Society of America

Foraging strategies of Aphidius ervii on different morphotypes of the pea plant.

The effects of morphological characters of different crop cultivars on the efficacy of foraging parasitoids.

The host plant-herbivore-host-parasitoid interactions of exophytic caterpillars in a neotropical lowland wet forest (ongoing project). Website at www.caterpillars.org.