Alex Forde is a graduate student at the University of Maryland College Park.  He is currently working with me, Candy Feller, and Dan Gruner to investigate the relative influences of predators (birds, bats, and lizards) versus bottom-up forcings (nutrient enrichment) on the distribution and abundance of arboreal arthropods in mangrove forests.

Advisor: Dr. Dan Gruner

Previous Education: B.A. Biology, Carleton College

Research Interests: I am interested in the consequences of genotypic and phenotypic diversity for ecological communities. More specifically, I would like to better understand how biodiversity affects food web processes, focusing on intraspecific diversity in secondary consumers, such as arthropod predators and parasitoids. I am also interested in multi-trophic interactions that involve conflict or synergism between plants and predators, with regards to their effects on the abundance and distribution of herbivore populations.

Location of Research: Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Publications: Forde AJ, Applewhite HS, and Bass HW. 2009 A Laboratory and Field Survey of Leaf Feeding Resistance in Diverse Maize Inbred Lines. Maize Genetics Newsletter 83 (in press)

Funding Sources: 2010 Darwin Fellowship, University of Maryland 2009 Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, Smithsonian Institution 2009 Flagship Fellowship, University of Maryland

Awards: 2008 Ecological Society of America Student Section Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation