PRIMES (PRogram for Interdisciplinary Mathematics, Ecology, and Statistics) is designed to address the challenges of studying complex ecological systems. Modern studies of ecological systems incorporate an extremely wide range of scientific and quantitative techniques, from the collection of data in the field, to the modeling of complex systems, to the application of advanced computational techniques. Consequently, quantitative ecology has become an inherently multi-disciplinary activity. Read More

Computer Science and Mathematics; New Mexico State University, 1987

Applied Mathematics; University of Arizona, 1992

Population Biology; University of California - Davis, 1999

Population Biology; University of California - Davis, 2002

The Effects of Larval Dispersal and Spatial Heterogeneity on the Design of Marine Reserves

PRIMES funds 10% of my position and the USDA funds 90%. I currently teach parts of EY505, Foundations in Ecology and teach the EY695 recitation section for PRIMES students in conjunction with the Foundations course.

My current research, with Chris Richards and Gayle Volk at the USDA NCGRP, involves the population ecology and genetics of wild relatives of crop species. We are investigating methods for improved collecting to maximize the genetic diversity of ex situ populations, developing new tools for analyzing markers from sampled populations to determine population structure, and designing a model for the demographic and genetic dynamics of ex situ populations in the National Germplasm System.