People

Current Students

Dana Frederick

Dana joined the lab as an undergraduate assistant in 2011 and has been a key participant in our canopy ant ecology projects in Panama.  Her MS research focuses on quantifying "arthropod rain" and ant swimming behavior in tropical forests.

William Rimmele

William will join the lab as a doctoral student in January 2013.  His research concerns the behavioral and community ecology of spiders in Kentucky forests and urban greenspaces.

Past Students

Petrus Fauaze Moreira

Petrus began working in our lab as an undergraduate assistant in 2009 and quickly became an expert tree climber.  He surveyed arboreal ants in parks around Little Rock for his honors thesis.  His MS research described canopy ant communities of central Arkansas and the Atlantic Forest region of Brazil.  Petrus returned to his home in Brazil in 2012, where he plans to pursue a doctoral degree in biology.

Theodore Sumnicht

Theo's MS thesis explored the effects of liana extermination on litter arthropod communities in Panama.  During our first trip to Barro Colorado Island, Theo persevered through the world's worst case of chigger hypersensitivity.  Undaunted, he returned the following year to be voluntarily stung by a bullet ant (Paraponera clavata).  Upon completion of his MS degree, Theo enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the University of Utah as a member of Jack Longino's lab.

Dr. Robin Verble

Robin's award-winning dissertation research examined the effects of prescribed fire on ant communities in Ozark oak forests of Arkansas.  Robin spearheaded the organization and formal dedication of the Watson Entomological Museum at UALR, and coordinated our outreach programs.  She is now an assistant professor in the Department of Resource Management at Texas Tech University, where she directs the fire ecology program.