From 2022 to 2025, I taught a 3-week summer field course on predator ecology. The course, held at Cedar Point Biological Station in the Sandhills of Nebraska, taught undergrad and grad students about functional responses, optimal foraging, predator-prey dynamics, trophic cascades, and so much more. We blended field experiences with lectures, coding exercises, scientific writing, and paper discussions for an all-in predator ecology experience!
Publications arising from Predator Ecology students' independent projects:
(In prep) Yang, L., Thilakarathne, D., DeLong, J.P, Uiterwaal, S.F. Predator density and habitat structure interact to alter functional responses.
(In prep) Riley, E.W., Martin, A., Uiterwaal, S.F. Acute exposure to a common agricultural fertilizer alters predator-prey interactions.
Stowe, H., Uiterwaal, S.F. The influence of light levels and predator characteristics on the functional response of the European harvestman (Opiliones: Phalangiidae). 2026. Journal of Insect Science. 26(2), ieag021. https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/ieag021
Martin, A., Uiterwaal, S.F., 2025. Intraguild predation by a biocontrol predator is reduced at lower temperatures. Food Webs. 43, e00397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2025.e00397
In the summer of 2016, I took this course as an undergraduate student from my future PhD advisor, John DeLong. I loved it so much I enthusiastically agreed to TA the following summer... and for several summers after that! In 2022, I took over as the course instructor.
Photo: The 2023 Predator Ecology class camping at Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge before a day of fieldwork.
