Ph.D.
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge,
LA, 1985
M.S.
University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 1979
B.S. Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 1976
My research is driven by a desire to understand the relationship between ecosystem dynamics and animal populations. As the trophic-dynamic model of whole ecosystems gained favor in the 1960's and 70's, many researchers began to downplay the importance of animals in structuring ecosystems. New interest in the role of animals in ecosystems has been stimulated by work in community ecology that indicated keystone species strongly influence community composition as well as by work on "top-down" controls on productivity. We now know that grazing, predation and physical disturbance by animals can influence a host of processes at the ecosystem level. My research combines the ecosystem perspective of energy and nutrient flows with traditional population and community dynamics.
