Post Docs
Jessie Mutz
Postdoctoral research associate (UT Knoxville)
[email protected]
The major goal of my research is to determine how spatial, temporal, and trait-based variation in species interactions affect the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of populations. I focus on interactions occurring among herbivorous insects, their host plants, and their predators, with particular emphasis on the scale(s) at which these interactions vary within populations. As a USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow the Kalisz lab, I am examining the demographic consequences of defense plasticity for consumer-resource dynamics. I am using a combination of field experiments (with upland cotton as a crop model system) and mathematical models to understand how factors such as the time course and density dependence of plant induction affect plant and herbivore populations, and how this varies with plant life history.
Postdoctoral research associate (UT Knoxville)
[email protected]
The major goal of my research is to determine how spatial, temporal, and trait-based variation in species interactions affect the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of populations. I focus on interactions occurring among herbivorous insects, their host plants, and their predators, with particular emphasis on the scale(s) at which these interactions vary within populations. As a USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow the Kalisz lab, I am examining the demographic consequences of defense plasticity for consumer-resource dynamics. I am using a combination of field experiments (with upland cotton as a crop model system) and mathematical models to understand how factors such as the time course and density dependence of plant induction affect plant and herbivore populations, and how this varies with plant life history.
Robert McElderry
Postdoctoral research associate (UT Knoxville)
Email
Robert is a population biologist whose research focuses on predicting ecological and evolutionary responses to changing climatic and ecological conditions. As part of Kalisz lab, he is working on two projects.
1. To investigate how evolution shapes multiple traits that together perform complex functions, he is modeling floral development, estimating genetic covariation, and predicting potential response to selection when improved autonomous self-pollination ability is favored.
2. Robert is also quantifying the relative importance of environmental drivers (overabundant deer, invasive competitors, soil microbial dynamics, and light availability) on community-level processes by integrating results from several Kalisz Lab research projects. Using data collected within our deer and garlic mustard exclusion plots, he is scaling up from population-level integral projection models for each understory plant to an integrated model of community-level dynamics.
Postdoctoral research associate (UT Knoxville)
Email
Robert is a population biologist whose research focuses on predicting ecological and evolutionary responses to changing climatic and ecological conditions. As part of Kalisz lab, he is working on two projects.
1. To investigate how evolution shapes multiple traits that together perform complex functions, he is modeling floral development, estimating genetic covariation, and predicting potential response to selection when improved autonomous self-pollination ability is favored.
2. Robert is also quantifying the relative importance of environmental drivers (overabundant deer, invasive competitors, soil microbial dynamics, and light availability) on community-level processes by integrating results from several Kalisz Lab research projects. Using data collected within our deer and garlic mustard exclusion plots, he is scaling up from population-level integral projection models for each understory plant to an integrated model of community-level dynamics.
Graduate Students
Amanda Benoit
PhD Student (UT Knoxville)
Email
MSc 2016, University of Guelph
Amanda joined the Kalisz lab in Fall 2016. She is interested in influence of pollinators and their predators on the evolution of plant mating systems and floral traits.
PhD Student (UT Knoxville)
MSc 2016, University of Guelph
Amanda joined the Kalisz lab in Fall 2016. She is interested in influence of pollinators and their predators on the evolution of plant mating systems and floral traits.