MOUNTAIN LAKE BIOLOGICAL STATION	Department of Biology
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Mentors are recruited throughout the winter and spring. Check back for updates.

Mentor assignment is a dynamic process. Please feel free to request a mentor or project. Following acceptance, mentor assignment is based on student requests, mentor requests, and what we feel will be good matches.

Interactions Between Environmental Conditions and Maternal Care Behaviors in Salamanders - Erica Crespi (Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Vassar College).  Crespi's research integrates ecological, behavioral, and physiological studies to understand how maternal care varies with environmental conditions in the red-backed salamander, a direct developing species in which females brood eggs for two months until offspring hatch.  Previous studies showed that the maternal traits that contributed to offspring fitness varied between wet and dry seasons. This year, REUs will conduct outdoor mesocosm experiments and laboratory-based behavioral observations to examine how variation in moisture (e.g., rainfall) alters maternal care behaviors and how maternal traits (e.g., body size) impact offspring development and survival. In addition, REUs also may design experiments using molecular techniques or hormone manipulations to investigate 1) the genetic and endocrine control of maternal care behaviors, or 2) the physiological factors affected by hydration status in  the mother and the developing offspring.

Plant Pollination Ecology and Evolution - Michele Dudash and Charles Fenster (Associate Professors, Department of Biology, University of Maryland). This NSF-funded research team is currently exploring evolutionary mechanisms that may be responsible for commonly recognized (but poorly understood) flower pollination syndromes. Three local, and closely related, species of Silene exhibit radically different pollination syndromes. Field ecology blended with genetic analyses are used to identify modes of selection at work in this system. REU students will be involved in a variety of experiments to test the utility of the pollination syndrome concept by estimating pollinator importance and the selective pressures exerted by pollinators in this three-species system.

Social Selection in the Forked Fungus Beetle – Vince Formica (Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Swarthmore College). Formica’s research focuses on a relatively new concept in the field of evolution called “social selection”.  Social selection is the idea that the phenotypes of members of your own species can have important effects on the evolution of behaviors and other phenotypes.  Building on previous ecological research at MLBS, Formica (in collaboration with Brodie) is exploring social selection in the Forked Fungus Beetle (Bolitotherus cornutus).  REU projects could investigate the evolutionary effects of a whole host of beetle behaviors including male-male combat, courtship, mating, and egg laying.  An REU student could also use computer mapping to take a larger scale approach and examine which ecological and landscape factors (e.g. tree species in the area, slope of the landscape, hydrology) affect the evolution of social behaviors

Plant Ecological Genetics: Maternal Effects in American Bellflower - Laura Galloway (Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Virginia) and Lindsay Dierkes (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biology, University of Virginia). Galloway's NSF-funded research addresses factors that influence life history variation of Campanula americana, a woodland herb with both annual and biennial life histories. Many past REU projects have focused on plant reproduction and pollination biology (e.g. examination of selfing rates, pollinator response to a pollen color polymorphism, floral longevity, and a comparison of pollinators in light gap and forested population patches). Other projects have explored factors that influence life history variation including ecological requirements for seed germination, patterns of seed dispersal, and consequences of herbivory. To understand the contribution of maternal effects to life history variation we are currently growing plants in the field that have undergone three generations of selection for early and late flowering time. An REU project could be designed to use these plants to address ecological (e.g. pollinators, herbivory, potential drought) or evolutionary (fitness) consequences of altered flowering time.

Population Dynamics in Pond-Breeding Amphibians - Kristine Grayson (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biology, University of Virginia) Grayson studies the seasonal movement patterns of the red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) and asks questions about survival, overwintering strategy, and pond connectivity. The research involves monitoring drift fences encircling two small ponds, working with a wide variety of amphibian species, and individually marking adult newts. Possible REU projects include: behavioral studies on the newt mating system, physiological investigations, or measuring growth and survival in recently metamorphosed juveniles using mark-recapture.

Using Hormones to Study Adaptation and Constraint in Dark-eyed Juncos - Ellen Ketterson (Professor, Department of Biology, Indiana University), Dustin Reichard and Kristal Cain (Ph.D. Candidates, Department of Biology, Indiana University).   With NSF support Ketterson and several collaborators at MLBS explore the hormonal basis of phenotypic variation and its relation to fitness.  They treat free-living male dark-eyed juncos ( Junco hyemalis ) with slow-release implants of testosterone (T) that maintain naturally occurring spring maximum levels of T for the entire breeding season.  They hope to contribute to the understanding of the nature of adaptation and constraint.  Possible REU projects include things like:  (1) Comparison of immune function of T and C-males; (2)  comparison of the immune response of females mated to T- and C-males; and (3) comparison of territory quality of T- and C-males.

Salamander Movements and Interactions ­ Eric Liebgold (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biology, University of Virginia). Liebgold studies the ecology of red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) with a focus on behavioral interactions between adults and juveniles. Research primarily involves in-field experiments, behavioral trials, and a mark-recapture field study. Potential REU projects include field studies and experiments exploring a variety of research directions including interactions with slimy salamanders (P. glutinosus), salamander memory after translocation, and conservation questions, but projects are flexible to REU interests. Past REU projects have looked at predation risk and at dispersal/homing in red-backed salamanders.

The Ecology and Evolution of Plant Hybrid Systems - Eric Nagy (Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, and Associate Director, MLBS, University of Virginia).   Nagy's work explores the evolutionary dynamics of natural hybrid plant populations. Hybridization among populations or species can change the direction of evolution locally and has the potential to give rise to new ecotypes or even species very quickly.  REU students will be involved in studies of genetic variation among and within populations and exploration of environment-specific selection on traits and character assemblages. Student projects involve a combination of population description, experimental manipulation in the field, greenhouse crossing studies, and molecular analysis.

Community and Behavioral Ecology of Earthworms and Salamanders - Tami Ransom (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biology, University of Virginia).  Ransom's broad interest is in community ecology; she is interested in how interactions between species influence community structure and dynamics. Ransom is currently examining the potential impacts of invasive earthworms on native salamanders. Earthworms are a ubiquitous but often overlooked biological component in ecosystems, and can have profound effects on community dynamics through their effects on small vertebrates, micro-invertebrates, soil composition, and nutrient cycling. More specifically, Ransom is focusing on the potentially complex effects of earthworms on the forest leaf litter community, particularly the effects of invasive earthworms on terrestrial salamanders. REU projects likely will involve hiking to conduct field surveys exploring the distribution of invasive earthworms. Mesocosms experiments involving earthworms and salamanders are also a possibility.

Community-Wide Ecological Displacement and Community Assembly - William Resetarits, Jr. (Reader in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton) and Christopher Binkley (Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University). This NSF funded research combines extensive field sampling and experiments to examine how character displacement in dusky salamanders (Desmognathus) affects species coexistence and local species diversity.  Potential REU projects include competition / predation experiments and field surveys to investigate mechanisms maintaining and generating species diversity in stream ecosystems. 

Forest Ecology - Henry Wilbur (B.F.D. Runk Professor, Department of Biology and Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia) and Rebecca Wilbur (Ph.D. Plant Ecologist). We are interested in understanding the effects of land-use history and disturbances on the dynamics of forests from the point of view of population and community ecology. We will spend some of our time this summer continuing to build a map of trees on a long-term plot. We like to give REUs considerable control over choice of their projects, but we all work together in the field. It is difficult to do experimental studies on trees in a single season, so we do a lot of tree ring analysis and studies of long-term change in trees first mapped in 1984 using growth and survival to infer mechanisms of interaction and disturbance. Deer herbivory is one mechanism that can be manipulated by caging plots or individual plants. Deer at the station are tame enough that much of their feeding can be observed directly. We will work with our students to help them develop an interesting project that meets our goals as well as giving them a sense of creativity and ownership. We also take trips with our students so that they get to see other kinds of forests in the Southern Appalachians.