The 2017 leg of the Neon Ants project is officially underway! So far we have visited two sites: (1) Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri and (2) Bankhead National Forest, Alabama. Both forests were quite nice, albeit the humidity is always surprising in the south. Mark Twain National Forest Bankhead National Forest Next post IContinue reading "Neon Ants 2017-Part 1: Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri and Bankhead National Forest, Alabama"
Summer Research 2017!
Summer is upon us and I am really exciting about the research that I will be doing in just a few short weeks. One of my goals, really wishes, when I was applying for graduate school was to try and understand where and why ant species are distributed across different habitats. Last year, I gotContinue reading "Summer Research 2017!"
Student Research Award and a Little Update for the Summer…
Every April the Biology department at the University of Oklahoma hands out awards to graduate students for either teaching or research they have done during the last scholastic year. This year our paper in Ecology, "From cryptic herbivore to predator: stable isotopes reveal consistent variability in trophic levels in an ant population" was awarded the bestContinue reading "Student Research Award and a Little Update for the Summer…"
Citizen Science: A pilot test for the Ants of Oklahoma Project
Have you ever wondered how many different types of animals are right outside your door? Since the Oklahoma Biodiversity Forum in 2015, Dr. Diane Roeder and I have been brainstorming ideas for projects where we could highlight the wonderful biodiversity of our world to the next generation. As there has been a recent upsurge of interest in life aroundContinue reading "Citizen Science: A pilot test for the Ants of Oklahoma Project"
NEW PAPER OUT! The Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Oklahoma: new species records and distributional notes
2017 is shaping up to be a nice year as our most recent paper on some new Pheidole species in Oklahoma was just published! Pheidole are a really fascinating and speciose genus that has a dimorphic workforce that is comprised of both minor and major workers. Fittingly, they are commonly called big-headed ants! In thisContinue reading "NEW PAPER OUT! The Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Oklahoma: new species records and distributional notes"
NEW PAPER OUT! Sodium co-limits and catalyzes macronutrients in a prairie food web
"Nitrogen and phosphorus frequently limit terrestrial plant production, but have a mixed record in regulating the abundance of terrestrial invertebrates. We contrasted four ways that Na could interact with an NP fertilizer to shape the plants and invertebrates of an inland prairie. We applied NP and Na to m² plots in a factorial design. AbovegroundContinue reading "NEW PAPER OUT! Sodium co-limits and catalyzes macronutrients in a prairie food web"
November updates and a little break…
November has been a great month so far. My first dissertation chapter was accepted in Ecology, we have a different paper that just came back with positive reviews, and a third ant taxonomy/species distribution paper is also in review. I have been plugging away at the flood manuscript with Mike and Diane and hope to submitContinue reading "November updates and a little break…"
NEW PAPER OUT! From cryptic herbivore to predator: stable isotopes reveal consistent variability in trophic levels in an ant population
We are incredibly excited to announce that our work on fire ants and isotopes has just been accepted in Ecology! The work primarily revolves around understanding trophic variation across a population of one of the model organisms of myrmecology: the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Essentially, we are looking at where you rank in aContinue reading "NEW PAPER OUT! From cryptic herbivore to predator: stable isotopes reveal consistent variability in trophic levels in an ant population"
The Ants of Oklahoma: a collaborative project
Knowing your study organism(s) is one of the most important things for an ecologist as it can lead to amazing insights and future ideas about how the natural world works. For me, those study organisms are the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). With help from collaborators and friends, we have started to publish exciting, but relatively small,Continue reading "The Ants of Oklahoma: a collaborative project"
September Musings – Conferences, Experiments, Papers, and more…
The month of August was fantastic. Mike and I reworked the isotope manuscript. I found some wonderfully cool ants at the University of Oklahoma Biological Station. And I made headway on my massive experiment for my dissertation. All in all, a good month. September is now here and I think it may be the bestContinue reading "September Musings – Conferences, Experiments, Papers, and more…"
Roeder Lab 