Solanum americanum

Growing S. americanum seedlings at the Savannah River Site National Environmental Research Park

Education

PhD, Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, in progress
BA, Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 1997
MA, Philosophy of Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 1995
BA, Philosophy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, 1991

Click here for my CV

Research Interests

We live in a fragmented world, and mitigating the effects of habitat fragmentation is one of our greatest conservation challenges.  My PhD research is focused on the impact of fragmentation on plant gene flow—pollination and seed dispersal.  Using molecular markers and a model species of annual herbaceous plant, Solanum americanum, I'm studying the movement of pollen and seeds within and between experimentally fragmented habitat patches at the Savannah River Site (SRS) National Environmental Research Park in South Carolina.  I'm testing hypotheses designed to clarify how habitat edges and the presence or absence of habitat corridors affect plant gene flow.  S. americanum can be pollinated by a variety of insects and dispersed by a variety of birds, so this study also reflects community-level responses to fragmentation.

Click here for a list of publications from the SRS corridor project:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/%7Ehaddad/Publications/srspubs.html

Background

I have a diverse background.  I began school twenty years ago as a classical violinist studying philosophy (BA,1991).  After earning a Master's degree in philosophy of science (1995), I earned a second Bachelor's in biology (1997).  Since then, I've taught philosophy, worked as a laboratory analyst in environmental and water quality labs, and studied birds in the United States, Micronesia and Antarctica. I joined the Tewksbury lab in the fall of 2006 to develop this fragmentation study at SRS.  I'm pursuing a career in conservation management and policy.

Scientific Publications

Walsh, John, A. Cruz, M. E. Berry, J. F. Chace and D. M. Evans. 1998. Breeding Range Expansion of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Along the Northern Colorado Front Range.  Journal of the Colorado Field Ornithologists 32 (3): 166-172.

Evans, Daniel M. and A. Cruz. 1997. Foraging Strategies and Differential Foraging Success Among American Kestrels, Falco sparverius.  Journal of the Colorado Field Ornithologists 32 (1): 11-14.

Technical Publications

Kus, B. E., D. Evans. Surveys for the Least Bell's Vireo and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher at the San Luis Rey River. 2004 Annual Summary. Prepared for State of California Department of Transportation, District 11, San Diego, CA.

Kus, B.E., D. Evans.  Breeding Activities of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher in the San Luis Rey River Flood Control Project Area, San Diego County, California, in 2003.  Prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 7 pp.

Kus, B.E., D. Evans, B. Langan, and M. B. Mulrooney.  Status and Distribution of the Least Bell's Vireo and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher at the Cleveland National Forest in 2002.  Prepared for the USDA Forest Service, Cleveland National Forest.  165 pp.

Evans, Daniel.  2001.  U.S. Antarctic Program Drinking Water Monitoring Summary.  Prepared for Raytheon Polar Services Company and the National Science Foundation.  31 pp.

Evans, Daniel.  2000.  U.S. Antarctic Program Drinking Water Monitoring Summary.  Prepared for Raytheon Polar Services Company and the National Science Foundation.  38 pp.

Map of experimental landscape locations and aerial photograph of one landscape, showing patch configruation.  Each of the eight landscapes (squares) consists of five early-successional patches surrounded by mature forest.  Two of the patches are connected by a 150 m corridor.

Planting design for S. americanum -- 16 plants per patch X 5 patches per landscape = 80 plants per landscape (640 total).