“No man is an island, entire of itself...” - John Donne

“Ecology is networks ... To understand ecosystems ultimately will be to understand networks.”

- Bernard Patten (quoted in The Web of Life by Fritjof Capra)

Research Interests.

I am broadly interested in issues related to complex systems, i.e., systems whose macro-scale behaviors cannot be predicted from microscopic (reductionistic) analysis of the system components, and how we can use complex systems approaches to address community ecology problems.

Currently, I am investigating how variation within species affects the relationships among many species in species rich communities. In particular, I am interested in how genetics can predict the structure of interactions among associated communities. Toward this end, I am using quantitative modeling techniques to construct networks of species relationships.

I do the majority of my work with the vast collobrative help of the Cottonwood Ecology Group at NAU.

Open Source Computing.

I am proficient in using the R programming language and have contributed several packages to the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN). For a full list, please see my CV.

I have also created a set of notes as a part of an NSF-IGERT sponsored course on using R for ecologists and can be found on the NAU IGERT webpage. The course covers basic operations for data management, advanced programming topics (e.g., loops) and both univariate and multivariate analyses, including t-tests, ANOVA, PerMANOVA and methods for plotting multivariate data (e.g., NMDS ordination).

Outreach.

In order to help promote an understanding of the broader implications of ecology to society, I have participated as a board member in the Colorado Plateau Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology (CPCSCB). The CPCSCB serves to promote conservation science in environmental policy and management in the vast region of the Colorado Plateau in North America.

My Education.