Ecological Physiology Functional Genomics Biomechanics & Evolution

Dept. of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA  USA

Associate Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State

My research interests are highly integrative, spanning ecology, physiology, functional genomics, evolutionary ecology, biomechanics, and behavior.  In the most general terms, I am interested in how organisms work, and why they work that way.  I investigate mechanistic details of  physiology, along with ecological and historical reasons why particular physiological mechanisms have evolved.  For the past ~15 years I have concentrated on determining how genetic variation in particular protein-coding genes affects organismal performance and ecological dynamics.

Distinctions:

2023: A paper from my dissertation was highlighted as one of 27 landmark papers in the 100 year history of the Journal of Experimental Biology

2023: Penn State Global Outstanding Program Award

2021: Eberly College of Science Distinguished Service Award 

2018 -  Benjamin Foote memorial lecturer. Kent State University

2018 -  Keynote speaker, NSF-sponsored workshop “Constructal Theory after 20 Years of Exploration and What the Future Holds.”  Villanova University

2013 -  Eberly College of Science Highly Rated Faculty award (Biol 499A, Tropical Field Ecology)

2012 - Eberly College of Science Highly Rated Faculty award (Biol 446, Physiological Ecology)

2009 -  Bellis Award, Penn State Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology; for outstanding contributions to  graduate student training

2008 -  Plenary lecture for the “Mechatronics  and Mechanical Design in Robotics" section of the French Workshop of Robotics, CNRS Institute, Paris

2006 -  Graduate student’s annual distinguished speaker, Dept. of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida

2003 -   Visiting scholar: Finnish Academy of Science, University of Helsinki

2003 -   Visiting scholar: Finnish Academy of Science, University of Jyväskylä

2002 -   Invited speaker, ‘Frontiers of Science Symposium’, hosted by the National Academy of Science and the Humbolt Foundation, Beckman Foundation, Irvine

1999 -   University Lecturer, University of Wisconsin, Madison

1999 -   Graduate Student’s Annual Distinguished Speaker, Dept. of Zoology, Miami University

1998 -   C. M. Williams Memorial Lecturer at the 3rd Int. Symp. on Molecular Insect Science

1997 -   NSF Career Award

1997 -   Penn State Faculty Associates Award, in recognition of “outstanding involvement in programs and services for students”

1990 -   American Society of Naturalists Young Investigator Prize

1989 -   Dissertation chosen as one of five finalists for the International Distinguished Dissertation Award, sponsored by the Council of Graduate Schools, covering all of the biological sciences during the two-year period of 1987-1989