Professor

forister

Contact Info

Institution: University of Nevada, Reno

Phone: (775) 784-6770

Address: Biology Department, MS 314 1664 N Virginia St, Reno, Nevada 89557, US

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/greatbasinbuglab/

Research Disciplines

  • Ecology

  • Diversification

  • Population Biology

Research Interests

  • Insect diversity
  • Plant-insect interactions
  • Global change and long-term records of insect populations and communities

Projects

Currently working with the Fish & Wildlife Service to understand habitat requirements of a rare butterfly (the Carson wandering skipper) in western Nevada.

Biography

  • Faculty, UNR: 2008 - present
The Forister lab works in the areas of specialization, diversification, and plant-insect ecology. Specific questions and topics include the evolution of diet breadth, evolutionary interactions across trophic levels, phenology and population regulation. We are also interested in the conservation and management of insect diversity. In the field, our research includes the Great Basin, the Sierra Nevada, and much of the western hemisphere including tropical sites. In the lab, we combine physiological and behavioral experiments with genomic sequencing of novel-model organisms.

Education

  • Postdoctoral researcher: Stony Brook University: 2005 - 2006
  • PhD in Ecology, UC Davis: 1999 - 2004