Research
I have been fortunate to work on research projects in some of Earth’s most beautiful places. I’ve tagged Weddell Seals in Antarctica, netted sea turtles in Panama, and studied hunting strategies of mangrove fishes in Costa Rica. I’ve experimentally documented baiting behavior (a form of tool use) by Burrowing Owls in Florida. Below I feature several additional areas research where I have concentrated the majority of my science efforts.
See my Curriculum Vitae (CV) for research publication list and more.
Endangered Freshwater Animals
Alabama is home to more freshwater species than any other state in the US, and is an aquatic biodiversity hotspot of global importance. Two species of darters (small, colorful, bottom-dwelling fishes) are found in Birmingham and nowhere else in the world. The Watercress Darter (Etheostoma nuchale) lives in just five springs in the city, and the Vermilion Darter (E. chermockii) inhabits just a single stream, Turkey Creek. Both are highly endangered species. I have worked with other scientists to learn more about these species so we can prevent their extinction. My BSC students and I also studied the ecology of endemic snail species living in the creeks of the region. Though snails are essential to maintaining healthy creeks, little is known about what these tiny creatures need to survive.
Montane Longleaf Pine Ecology
I have also studied longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystems in the mountains of Alabama. These pine woodlands were once the most common ecosystem in the Southeast, but now occupy a thin fraction of their former range. Hundreds of plant and animal species live in this ecosystem and nowhere else. The ecosystem depends on frequent wildfires to kill invading broadleaf trees (e.g., oaks, maples). Due to our land use practices, fires are now rare, and many longleaf woodlands are being overtaken by broadleaf forest. At Oak Mountain State Park (Alabama), my students and I, plus collaborator Dr. Malia Fincher (Samford University), have studied how geology influences the rate of transition to broadleaf forest, and strategies for longleaf restoration.
The Ketona Dolomite Glades
One of my first projects in Alabama was to study the role that fire plays in the maintenance of an exceptionally rare ecosystem–the Ketona Dolomite Glades of Bibb County, Alabama. Glades naturally lack trees and support rare wildflowers and grasses that cannot survive in the shared of a forest. The unusual soils of the Ketona glades support many plant species and subspecies found nowhere else. Our experiments revealed that wildfire helps prevent the encroachment of trees in the Ketona Dolomite Glades. Without fire, trees would colonize the glades and shade-out the rare glade plants.
Tropical Forest Restoration
In graduate school I studied tropical forest ecosystems and how they can be restored. The loss of these forests is threatening the well-being of millions who depend on them directly for food, fuel, and medicine. The rest of humanity also needs tropical forests to counteract climate chagne by absorbing carbon dioxide. Throughout the world, tropical forests have been cleared for agriculture, then abandoned when soil nutrients are depleted. For ten years I investigated ways to initiate and enhance the process of tropical forest regrowth in East Africa under the guidance of Dr. Colin Chapman. Most of this work featured the role that animals (bats, birds, monkeys and apes) play in dispersing seeds from the forest into the abandoned agricultural areas, and the survivorship of young trees that establish in those areas.