Author & Ecologist
My bee page is now updated - check it out for details about our 2020 field season. I'm excited about my projects, coordinated as always with KC Wildlands, KC Parks, and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). We're going to conduct a standardized survey of a unique habitat in the Kansas City area, the rocky... Continue Reading →
Avila University started its regular spring semester about two weeks ago. Seems I've hardly drawn a breath, and the month has already slipped by! After some worry that I might be teaching an overload again this spring, I managed to negotiate with the powers that be so that my teaching obligations remain within contract. This... Continue Reading →
Happy Winter Solstice! I'm celebrating this year by bringing back a tradition I let slide a while ago: my annual holiday reading. Technology has changed since the last time I did this, so it took some time to figure things out, but the recording is finished and uploaded - embedded below and available on... Continue Reading →
Well, I warned you back in September, and I was right: My autumn overload was too much to allow weekly niceties such as visiting my online journal and communicating with all of you. I have missed this space. Truly. I'm hopeful I will have more time to spend with you in the spring, as I... Continue Reading →
We are a quarter of the way through the semester already, and I haven't given you the scoop yet on the awesome courses I'm teaching at Avila. Here they are: BI 112 Introductory Biology: Ecology and Evolution. Some professors shy away from newbie courses, but at Avila we say, "Bring 'em on!" More so with BI... Continue Reading →
According to many textbooks, an ecosystem is defined as a community of living organisms interacting with each other and the nonliving components of their environment. Whenever I introduce this concept to students, I ask them to consider what is meant by "living" and "nonliving." Common examples of "nonliving" parts of an ecosystem include air (oxygen, carbon... Continue Reading →
About four months ago, this lovely photo by Joe Neely of Diadasia bees sleeping together in a flower appeared on Bored Panda and promptly went viral. Based on my experience as a biologist, I concluded at once these individuals were two adult females, perhaps sisters, cuddled for warmth as they were sleeping. Recently, it occurred to me others... Continue Reading →
August already, and I am moving into late summer collections at Jerry Smith Park. This season I don't have students working with me in the field. Avila is a small college, and the timing of biology majors moving through our programs isn't always conducive to having research assistants on my summer team. Even when you... Continue Reading →
While trying to process the massacres this past weekend in El Paso and Dayton, I was reminded by a friend, colleague, and Tribal Elder of the importance of prayer in our life's journey. I'm keenly aware that in recent years, "thoughts and prayers" have become synonymous with political inaction. Yet for many of us, spiritual... Continue Reading →
I recently started LATINX by Ed Morales, and I must take a moment to recommend this very insightful and moving book. LATINX examines the history of and interface between social constructs of race in Latin America and social constructs of race in the United States, as well as the implications for our common future. I didn't realize how... Continue Reading →
