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: 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