Education & Positions
2005-Present
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Brazil.
2005
Ph.D. Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, U.K.
Advisor: Nigel R. Franks
2001
Short-Term Fellow of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama.
Advisors: William T. Wcislo & Carl W. Rettenmeyer
2000
M.S., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, U.S.A.
Advisor: Eldridge Adams
1997
B. S., Magna Cum Laude with Honors in Biological Sciences, Florida State University, U.S.A.
Advisor: Walter R. Tschinkel
Publications
Click here for a current list of my publications
Honours,
Appointments, and Grants
2006-Present
Research Grant from the National Geographic Society, U.S.A.
2005-2007
1851 Research Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, U.K.
2005
Research Grant from The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, U.K.
2001-2004
Ph. D. Studentship from the Natural Environment Research Council, U.K.
2001-2003
Appointment as a Pre-Doctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,
Panama
2001
Appointment as a Short-Term Fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,
Panama
1999
Penner Invertebrate Research Award, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology, University of Connecticut, U.S.A.
1997
John Mark Caffrey Memorial Scholarship for outstanding undergraduate research,
Department of Biological Sciences, Florida State University, U.S.A.
Teaching
Experience
2005-Present
Co-advisor to undergraduate and graduate student research projects at the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Brazil.
2002-2004
Co-advisor to two undergraduate research projects at the University of Bristol, U.K.
2001-2002
Postgraduate teaching assistant and tutor, School of Biological Sciences, University
of Bristol, U.K.
1998-2000
Postgraduate teaching assistant, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
University of Connecticut, U.S.A.
1997
Senior teaching assistant, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida State
University, U.S.A.
Scientific
Talks and Posters
2008
Contributed Talk: Contributed Talk: "The evolution of specialization and its ecological consequences: Insights from arboreal ants’, University of Missouri at St. Louis, St. Louis, U.S.A.
2007
Invited Talk: “The ecology of caste evolution: Insights from comparative studies of the army ants and turtle ants” University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
2007
Contributed Talk: “Natural history and explaining highly altruistic worker phenotypes: Nesting ecology and soldier evolution in Cephalotes ants” The Buffon Legacy: Natural History in the 21st century, Dijon, France.
2007
Invited Talk: “The hidden big predators of the Neotropics: The behaviour, ecology, and evolution of New World army ants”, University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
2006
Contributed Talk: “The evolution of specialization in the soldier caste of Cephalotes ants”, The 3rd European Conference on Behavioural Biology, Belfast, U.K.
2006
Contributed Poster: “Nesting ecology and the evolution of specialization in the soldier caste of Cephalotes ants”, The 15th International Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
2005
Invited Talk: “The hidden big predators of the Neotropics: Diversity, diet, behavior, and impact of army ants”, Annual meeting of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects – Brazilian Section, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2005
Invited Talk: "Living pothole plugs and traffic-flow in army ants: Quantifying the net benefit of a unique division of labour", The annual meeting of The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservatiion, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
2005
Invited Talk: "Caste evolution and ecology in ants", Universidade
Federal de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
2004
Invited Talk: "Caste evolution and ecology: a special army ant worker for novel
prey”,
Oklahoma University, Norman, OK, U.S.A.
2004
Contributed Talk: “Building a better road: Ant-plugs and resource transport in an army ant", Departmental Round Table Talks, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, U.K.
2004
Contributed Talk: “Prey shape and the evolution of special worker forms in army ants", Behavioural Biology and Behavioural Ecology Postgraduate Symposium, University of Bristol, U.K.
2003
Contributed Talk: “Building a better road: Adaptive construction by army ant foragers”,
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Barro Colorado Island, Panama.
2003
Contributed Talk: “Social combat on a massive scale: Predation of Atta leafcutter
ants by a subterranean army ant”, University of Missouri at St. Louis,
St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.
2002
Contributed Talk: “Caste evolution in ants: Why are some workers bigger than others?", Departmental Round Table Talks, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, U.K.
2002
Contributed Talk: “Army ants eat leafcutter ants”, Annual meeting of the International
Union for the Study of Social Insects – U.K. Section, London, U.K.
2002
Contributed Talk: “When the fungus hits the fan: The army ant Nomamyrmex
esenbeckii vs Atta leafcutter ants”, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,
Barro Colorado Island, Panama.
2001
Contributed Talk: “Colony growth & reproduction in the army ant Eciton burchellii: An introduction’, Departmental Round Table Talks, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, U.K.
2001
Contributed Poster: “Dominance interactions, spatial order, and division of labour
in the ant Ponera pennsylvanica”, Annual meeting of the International
Union for the Study of Social Insects – U.K. Section, Cambridge, U.K.
2001
Contributed Talk: “Dominance, movement, and task-allocation in the ant Ponera
pennsylvanica:
How conflict creates order”, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,
Barro Colorado Island, Panama
1999
Contributed Talk: “Ritualized conflict in Odontomachus brunneus and the generation
of a new organizational mechanism in ants”, Annual meeting of the Entomological
society of America, Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.
Peer
Reviewing Service
Reviews
conducted for the following journals:
Animal Behaviour
Behavioral
Ecology and Sociobiology
Biotropica
Ecography
Functional
Ecology
Insectes Sociaux
Journal of Applied Entomology
National Science Foundation
Naturwissenschaften
Neotropical Entomology
Oecologia
Science
