My research program focuses on questions about the importance of spatial dynamics to populations and communities. It addresses theories that are central to conservation and the maintenance of biodiversity in the face of global change, such as climate change, habitat change and changes in agricultural practice. Many of these projects are collaborative, as described on the pages for each topic area.
My work focuses on four major topics:
(1) I am interested in metacommunities, the role of spatial dynamics in ecological communities. Ongoing research investigates the factors that maintain species diversity in both laboratory and field systems. This work also re-evaluates and challenges existing community theory that was developed for closed local communities. Recent directions include investigating the effects unidirectional dispersal and disturbance on spatial communities.
(2) Conservation of threatened animal species. My lab has worked extensively on the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle and Tricolored Blackbirds. These projects aim to better understand regional population survival using knowledge of local and regional dynamics. I have also collaborated on international conservation projects.
(3) The ecology of organismal movement. Collaborative projects developed an integrative conceptual framework for considering the movement of all kinds of organisms. In the long-term I would like to integrate the biology of movement into population and community ecology in more complete ways.
(4) Weather, climate change and population dynamics. This is a long-standing interest and spans general reviews and empirical work.