Wade Alan Ryberg
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Texas A&M University
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
210 Nagle Hall, College Station, TX 77843
979-862-7245
waryberg@tamu.edu
http://sites.google.com/site/wadearyberg/
Education
2009 Ph.D. Washington University in St. Louis, Program in Evolution, Ecology, and
Population Biology, Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Chase
2002 M.S. Texas A&M University, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences,
Advisor: Dr. Lee Fitzgerald
1999 B.S. Texas A&M University, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
Summa Cum Laude
Professional Experience
2010 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Texas A&M University
2009 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology
2003 Co-PI, Herpetological Inventory of Texas Army National Guard lands, Texas A&M
University
2002 Research Assistant, Ecological study of Processes Structuring Anuran
Communities in Big Bend National Park, Texas A&M University, National Park
Service, US Geological Survey
2001 Environmental Consultant – wetlands reclamation and delineation, Crouch
Environmental Services, Inc., Houston, Texas
2001 Research Assistant, Vertebrate and Invertebrate Biodiversity Assessment of
Guanacaste National Forest for Ministry of Environmental and Energy Resources,
San Jose, Costa Rica, 2001
1999 Research Assistant, Vertebrate Biodiversity Study, Keechi Creek Wildlife
Management Area, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
1999 Research Assistant, Vertebrate Biodiversity Study, Richland Creek Wildlife
Management Area, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Research Interests
Role of predation in the assembly of prey metacommunities
Effects of habitat fragmentation on food web properties
Identifying and addressing ecosystem restoration constraints related to community assembly
(e.g. disturbance regime, trophic interactions)
Publications
Chase, J. M., E. G. Biro, W. A. Ryberg, K. G. Smith. 2009. Predators temper the relative
importance of stochastic processes in the assembly of prey metacommunities.
Ecology Letters 12(11) 1210-1218.
Allan, B. F., R. B. Langerhans, W. A. Ryberg, R. Katz, N. Griffin, K. N. Smyth, B. Oberle,
M. Schutzenhofer, W. J. Landesman, K. R. Crooks, R. S. Ostfeld and J. M. Chase.
2009. Ecological Correlates of Risk and Incidence of West Nile Virus in the United
States. Oecologia 158(4) 699-708.
Ryberg, W. A. and J. M. Chase. 2007. Predator-dependent species-area relationships.
American Naturalist (170) 636-642.
Ryberg, W. A. and L. A. Fitzgerald. 2005. Herpetofaunal Inventory of Fort Wolters in
North-Central Texas. Southwestern Naturalist 50(2) 267-271.
Chase, J. M. and W. A. Ryberg. 2004. Connectivity, scale-dependence, and the
productivity–diversity relationship. Ecology Letters (7) 676-683.
Ryberg, W. A., L. A. Fitzgerald, R. L. Honeycutt, and J. C. Cathey, T. J. Hibbitts. 2004.
Establishing a baseline inventory of vertebrates at the Richland Creek Wildlife
Management Area in east Texas. Southwestern Naturalist 49(4) 528-534.
Ryberg, W. A. and J. C. Cathey. 2004. A box trap design to capture alligators in forested
wetland habitats. Wildlife Society Bulletin 32(1) 183-187.
Ryberg, W. A. and G. H. Dayton. 2004. Scaphiopus couchi (Couch’s spadefoot) predation
by Masticophis flagellum (Coachwhip). Herpetological Review 35(3) 263.
Ryberg, W. A., L. A. Fitzgerald, R. L. Honeycutt, and J. C. Cathey. 2002. Genetic
Relationships of American Alligator Populations Distributed across Different
Ecological and Geographic Scales. Journal of Experimental Zoology 294(4) 325-333.
Hibbitts, T. J., R. E. Nelson, and W. A. Ryberg. 2001. Geographic Distribution of
Scaphiopus hurteri. Herpetological Review 32(2) 116.
Hibbitts, T. J., R. E. Nelson, and W. A. Ryberg. 2001. Geographic Distribution of Hyla
cinerea. Herpetological Review 32(2) 114.
Manuscripts submitted and in prep
Ryberg, W. A., K. G. Smith, and J. M. Chase. Predators alter the scaling of diversity in
prey metacommunities (in review Oikos)
Ryberg, W. A., Ö. Östman, D. Oppenheimer, and J. M. Chase. Habitat configuration alters
the trophic structure of an old-field food web (in prep Oecologia).
Ryberg, W. A., A. R. Templeton, and J. M. Chase. Predator reintroduction has prey up a
tree, literally but not figuratively (in prep Oecologia)
Technical Reports
Ryberg, W. A., and L. A. Fitzgerald. 2003. Herpetofaunal Inventory of Fort Wolters in
North-Central Texas. Submitted to Texas Army National Guard-Division of Natural
Resources.
Honeycutt, R. L., K. Banks, L. A. Fitzgerald, W. A. Ryberg, T. J. Hibbitts, F. P. Gelwick, B.
Healey, J. Cathey, and J. Gunnels. 1999. Monitoring Amphibians, Reptiles, Fishes,
and Mammals at Richland Creek Wildlife Management Area. Submitted to Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department.
Fitzgerald, L. A., W. A. Ryberg, R. Knipe. 1999. Baseline Monitoring of Amphibians and
Reptiles at Keechi Creek Wildlife Management Area. Submitted to Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department.
Grants and funding
2007 NSF DDIG – Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant ($9,913)
2005 Menke Scholarship for Wildlife Habitat, Webster Groves Nature Society ($690)
2004 Crescent Hills Research Grant, Tyson Research Center, Washington University in
St. Louis ($600)
2003 Monitoring Amphibian and Reptile Diversity and Abundance at Fort Wolters, Texas
Army National Guard-Division of Natural Resources ($20,293)
Teaching experience
2011 Instructor: Herpetology (315), Texas A&M University
2011 Instructor: Field Herpetology (316, 600), Texas A&M University
2008 Teaching Assistant: Community Ecology (419), Washington University in St. Louis
Duties: mentor students, lecture, lead discussion, prepare problem sets/exam, grading
Teaching Assistant: Practical Skills in Ecology (295), Washington Univ. St. Louis
Duties: mentor students, grantsmanship training, lecture, lead discussion
2007 Teaching Assistant: Experimental Ecology (4193), Washington University St. Louis
Duties: mentor students, coordinate microcosm studies, lead discussion, grading
2006 Teaching Assistant: Community Ecology (419), Washington University in St. Louis
Duties: mentor students, lecture, lead discussion, prepare problem sets/exam, grading
2005 Teaching Assistant: Experimental Ecology (4193), Washington University St. Louis
Duties: mentor students, coordinate microcosm studies, lead discussion, grading
2004 Teaching Assistant: Ecology (381), Washington University in St. Louis
Duties: lecture, mentor students, lead discussion, prepare problem sets/exam, grading
2002 Teaching Assistant: Herpetology (315), Texas A&M University
Duties: lecture, organize and lead laboratory exercises, field trips, and paper
discussions, prepare problem sets/exams, grading
2001 Teaching Assistant: Chordate Anatomy (318), Texas A&M University
Duties: lecture, prepare problem sets/exam, grading
Teaching Assistant: Herpetology (315), Texas A&M University
Duties: lecture, organize and lead laboratory exercises, field trips, and paper
discussions, prepare problem sets/exams, grading
2000 Teaching Assistant: Chordate Anatomy (318), Texas A&M University
Duties: lecture, prepare problem sets/exam, grading
Mentoring experience
2008 Project: The role of lizards as potential dilution hosts for Lyme disease in Missouri.
Student: Genevieve Pang (Washington University Undergraduate Student).
Outcome: Co-authored publication submitted; collaboration is ongoing.
Co-advised with Dr. Brian F. Allan
2005 Project: Habitat fragmentation alters food web dynamics in old-field ecosystems.
Student: Daniel Oppenheimer (Washington University Undergraduate Student).
Outcome: Co-authored publication in progress, Daniel has worked for the
Environmental Law Institute in Washington D.C. and is beginning graduate school
at Yale’s school of Forestry & Environmental Studies (fall 2009)
Academic Awards, services, and outreach
2008 Mentor, High School Research Internship Program sponsored by NSF
"Making Natural Connections: an Authentic Field Research Collaboration"
Washington University in St Louis, Tyson Research Center, and
Missouri Botanical Garden’s Shaw Nature Reserve
2007-2009 Vice-Chair, Ecology Teaching Team, Washington University’s
Young Scientist Program (http://ysp.wustl.edu/teachingteams.html)
2006 Co-organizer, Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference (MEEC)
Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO
2005-2009 Undergraduate Research Mentor (Washington University)
2005 Department of Biology Social Activities Committee (Washington University)
2002 Co-organizer, Society for Conservation Biology – Herpetological Bio-Blitz
(Texas A&M University student chapter)
2001 Herpetological Independent Study Group, Travel Organizing Committee
1999 Texas Herpetological Society, Annual Symposium Organizing Committee
1999 Regents Fellowship (Texas A&M University)
1999 Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award (Texas A&M University)
1999 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship (Texas A&M University)
1998 NSF REU (Texas A&M University)
1998 W. B. Davis Scholar (Texas A&M University)
Professional Societies
2008-present Society for Conservation Biology
2006-present American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
2004-present Ecological Society of America
2001-2003 Texas A&M University Student Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology
1999-2008 Southwestern Association of Naturalists
1998-present Texas Herpetological Society
1999-2003 Brazos Valley Herpetological Society
Service as reviewer
American Naturalist, Ecography, Ecology, Ecology Letters, Journal of Biogeography, Journal
of Experimental Zoology, National Science Foundation, Oecologia, Oikos, Southwestern
Naturalist, Texas Journal of Science