Assistant Professor in the Westover Honors College and School of Sciences
434.544.8363
styrsky.jennifer@lynchburg.edu
Education
- PhD, Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003
- BA, Biology with Honors – University of Chicago, 1993
Experience
- 2020-present, Assistant Professor of Westover Honors College and School of Sciences
- 2020-present, Steering Committee Member, Undergraduate Student Experiences with Citizen Science (USE Cit Sci) network
- 2014-2020, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science, University of Lynchburg
- 2011-2014, Adjunct Professor of Biology and Environmental Science, University of Lynchburg
- Post-Doctoral Fellow, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
- Adjunct Instructor, Southern Union State Community College, Opelika, AL
- Field biologist, U.S. Department of Defense (Panama), Illinois Natural History Survey (Illinois), Conservation Research Foundation (Idaho), Hastings Natural History Reservation (California), Brookfield Conservation Park (Australia)
Professional Interests
I am interested in a wide range of ecological questions, primarily focused on terrestrial organisms in temperate and tropical ecosystems. My previous research with tropical forest birds focused on clutch size evolution, effects of climatic conditions on annual fecundity, nest-site selection, and parental care behaviors. Currently, I am involved in two different projects involving collaborators from multiple institutions and each funded by the National Science Foundation. The first research project is investigating environmental factors that drive local adaptation in common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), the host plant for the iconic monarch butterfly. The second project is the development of a professional network to evaluate and promote the use of citizen science projects in undergraduate courses.
Publications
Ledin, A.E., Styrsky, J.D., and Styrsky, J.N. 2020. Friend or foe? Orb-weaver spiders inhabiting ant acacias capture both insect herbivores and acacia ant alates. Journal of Insect Science 20(4):https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/ieaa076
Styrsky, J. N. and J. D. Brawn. 2011. Annual fecundity of a Neotropical bird during years of high and low rainfall. Condor 113:194-199.
Brawn, J. D., G. Angher, N. Davros, W. D. Robinson, J. N. Styrsky, and C. E. Tarwater. 2011. Sources of variation in the nesting success of understory tropical birds. Journal of Avian Biology 42:61-68.
Styrsky, J. N., C. Guyer, H. Balbach, and A. Turkmen. 2010. The relationship between burrow abundance and area as a predictor of gopher tortoise population size. Herpetologica 66:403-410.
Styrsky, J. N., J. D. Brawn, and S. K. Robinson. 2005. Juvenile mortality increases with clutch size in a Neotropical bird. Ecology 86:3238-3244.
D. Robinson, J. N. Styrsky, and J. D. Brawn. 2005. Are artificial bird nests effective surrogates for estimating predation on real bird nests? A test with tropical birds. Auk 122:843-852.
Styrsky, J. N. 2005. Influence of predation on nest-site reuse by an open-cup nesting Neotropical passerine. Condor 107:133-137.
Professional Affiliations
- Central Virginia Environmental Education Alliance
- Citizen Science Association
- Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN)
- Ecological Society of America
- Undergraduate Student Experiences with Citizen Science (USE Cit Sci) network
- Virginia Society of Ornithology
Teaching Areas
- BIOL 233 Tropical Biology
- BIOL 321W General Ecology
- ENVS 111 Environmental Science and Sustainability I
- HONR 200 Natural Resources Stewardship
- HONR 451W Honors Research