Biodiversity Fellows

Primary subject(s) of interest:  (1) Understanding how diverse microbiomes respond to chemical and biological perturbations, (2) harnessing these insights to rationally design therapeutic strategies to curtail antibiotic-resistant pathogens and remedy pathological microbiome states, and (3) engineering microbial catalysts to convert renewable biomass into value chemicals such as biofuels and pharmaceuticals.

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States, El Salvador, Peru, Pakistan, Niger, South Africa, Republic of Congo, Netherlands, China, India

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Freshwater, Agricultural lands, Urban areas, Built environment

Primary subject of interest:  Urban Amphibian Conservation, Anuran Conservation, Bioacoustics

Primary geographic interest:  United States, Missouri – Saint Louis

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Collaborating with Community Scientists to Improve Conservation: A Case Study with Bee Visitation Networks

Primary subject(s) of interest:  One health, conservation medicine

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global with current emphasis areas in USA, Ecuador, Brazil, Kenya, Madagascar

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Grassland, Freshwater, Marine, Agricultural land, Urban areas, Zoos

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Ecological Niche Modeling to Examine the Interactions Between Climate-related Environmental Change, Food Security, Landscape Diversity and an Emerging Infectious Disease
• Expanding the Toolset for Chelonian Conservation: Understanding the Diversity, Distribution and Dynamics of Box Turtle Microbiomes
• Quantifying Effects of Parasites on Ecosystem Nutrient Cycling
• Reducing Human-Wildlife Conflict in East Africa Using Participatory Action Research
• Using iDNA to Increase the Protected Status of the Djeke Triangle and Enhance Disease Surveillance in the Congo Basin
• Going Wild in Forest Park: Tracking the Movement of Wildlife and Disease in an Urban Food Web

Primary subject of interest: Community ecology, temperature, metabolic scaling, behavior

Primary geographic range of interest: Global, with current work in Saint Louis, Nebraska, Tahiti, Iceland, and Australia

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Forest Park Living Lab: Exploring the Biodiversity and Natural History of One of the World’s Greatest Parks
• Going Wild in Forest Park: Tracking the Movement of Wildlife and Disease in an Urban Food Web

Primary subject(s) of interest: Ecology, conservation, and management of predator-prey species using noninvasive techniques

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States (South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Nebraska, and San Francisco), South America (Argentina), & Asia (Bhutan)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Shrubland, Grassland, Agricultural land, Urban areas, Monocultural plantations & fragmented ecosystems

Primary subject(s) of interest: Virus-host interactions; Mosquito-transmitted arboviruses

Primary geographic area of interest:  USA

Primary subject(s) of interest: Cognitive, behavioral, and urban ecology, mechanisms of decision making, pollination and foraging in bees and flies

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Shrubland, Grassland, Agricultural land, Urban areas, Zoos

Primary subject(s) of interest: Animal welfare, stress, behavior, endocrinology, physiology, biomarkers, animal wellbeing, visitor effects, primatology, allostatic load

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Zoos

Primary subject of interest: Conservation genetics, molecular systematics, phylogeography, DNA metabarcoding, quantitative genetics, understanding response of plants to environmental stress (focusing mainly on plants of conservation concern)

Primary geographic interest: Americas and islands of the western Indian Ocean (Madagascar and the Mascarenes)

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Biodiversity of Freshwater Mussels of the Upper Sangamon River (Illinois): Community Science in Action
• Integrating Stable Isotopes and DNA Metabarcoding of Cave Guano to Develop a Unique Paleoenvironmental Archive for the Humid Tropics 
• The Search for Critically Endangered Possibly Extinct Ecuadorean Frogs using eDNA

Primary subject(s) of interest:   Herpetology, Conservation Biology, Cave Biology

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Via the Saint Louis Zoo(Missouri, Armenia, Ecuador) and externally (Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ukraine, Puerto Rico)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Grassland, Freshwater, Caves and subterranean habitats, Deserts, Urban areas, Zoos

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Ethnobotany, traditional ecological knowledge, community-based conservation, North American biodiversity, invasive species

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States (Appalachia, the Ozarks)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Agricultural land

Primary subject(s) of interest: Biogeochemical cycling in modern/ancient marine sediments and soils

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global–currently: Australia, Canada, France, French Guiana, Estonia, Lithuania, Italy, New Zealand, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Sweden, US

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Freshwater, Marine, Soils

Primary subject(s) of interest: Ecosystem functioning,  Plant species in situ/ex situ conservation, Systematic and evolutionary botany, Urban greening

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Madagascar

Primary subject(s) of interest: All Horn if Africa wildlife including Grevy’s zebra, hirola, black rhino, mountain nyala, giraffe, African wild ass, and Ethiopian wolf; southeast Asian wildlife, such as banteng; local Missouri wildlife and urban biodiversity

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Horn of Africa, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somaliland

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Savanna, Grassland, Deserts, Urban areas

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Evaluating Planned Grazing as an Approach to Improving Rangeland Habitat for Grevy’s Zebra and Pastoralists in Kenya

Primary subject of interest:  Conservation biology, Tropical forest ecology, Seed dispersal ecology, Great ape conservation

Primary geographic interest:  Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Liberia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Evolutionary ecology, behavioral ecology, vibrational communication, biotremology, climate change, evolution of complex traits, animal communication

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Saint Louis, Eastern North America

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Shrubland, Grassland, Agricultural land, Urban areas

Primary subject(s) of interest: Anthropology, Archaeology, Asia, Human Ecology, Grassland ecology, Tropical jungles

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Asia-Pacific (Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Grassland, Deserts, Urban areas, Mountains

Primary subject(s) of interest: Reproductive biology and management, genetics, endocrinology, applied statistics, mammals (particularly felids and canids)

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Global; wild and captive populations

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Zoos and Aquariums

Primary subject(s) of interest: Agriculture, plant domestication, archaeobotany, ethnobotany, and conservation

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Mexico, United States (Mississippi River valley, St Louis Metro area, SE and Southwest US)

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Grassland, Freshwater, Deserts, Agricultural land, Urban areas

Primary subject(s) of interest:  Floristics, plant taxonomy, and plant conservation

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Tanzania

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Shrubland, Grassland, Urban areas

Primary subject of interest: Ethnobotany, food anthropology, refugee and immigrant cuisine

Primary geographic interest: Bosnia, United States

Primary subject of interest: Flowering plant systematics, Lythraceae

Primary geographic interest: Global

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:: Ethnobotany, artifacts made from plants, education

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  Global

Primary subject(s) of interest: Anthropogenic impacts on aquatic invertebrates; ecological impacts of pavement deicers; freshwater mussel population dynamics; community science; ecological epidemiology

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Freshwater, Urban areas

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Biodiversity of Freshwater Mussels of the Upper Sangamon River (Illinois): Community Science in Action

Primary subject(s) of interest: Climate change impacts on plant ecology and human environmental knowledge systems; ethnobotany; montane and alpine; Madagascar; community-based conservation; food plants

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Himalaya; Hengduan/Mountains of Southwest China; Pacific Northwest; Madagascar

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Shrubland, Grassland, Agricultural land

LEC Projects

• Data-driven conservation of the critically endangered diademed sifaka and the black and white ruffed lemur living in fragmented habitats

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Biological Inventory and Conservation of Arevik National Park and Zangezur Sanctuary, Armenia
• Protecting Biodiversity and Human Health through Wild Edible Plants of Alandraza-Agnalavelo Sacred Forest, Madagascar
• Socio-economic and Cultural Adaptation to Biodiversity Loss and Climate Change: Analysis and Intervention Efficacy Study in Three Madagascar Subsistence Communities

Primary subject(s) of interest: Carnivore conservation, Carnidae, Felidae, Ursidae, Canidea, Pinnipedia

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: Africa (Namibia, Somaliland, Tanzania, Kenya), Alaska

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Savanna, Shrubland, Grassland, Marine, Agricultural land

Primary subject(s) of interest: Primate conservation, animal welfare, animal behavior and behavior management (enrichment and training)

Primary geographic area(s) of interest:  Malaysia (orangutan), Republic of Congo (chimpanzee and gorilla); I am the program coordinator for our partnerships with HUTAN in Malaysian Borneo and with the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project in Republic of Congo

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Zoos

LEC Seed Grant Projects

• Using iDNA to Increase the Protected Status of the Djeke Triangle and Enhance Disease Surveillance in the Congo Basin

Primary subject of interest:  Neuroscience

Primary geographic interest:  United States

Primary subject(s) of interest: Circadian rhythms, light pollution, preterm birth, brain cancer

Primary geographic area(s) of interest: United States

Habitats and Ecosystems of interest: Forest, Grassland, Deserts, Urban areas