My research interests are broad and span behavioral ecology to community ecology. I am particularly interested in mutualistic interactions between ants and honeydew-producing insects (e.g., aphids), and the consequences of these interactions to plants and the arthropod communities found on those plants. In recent work I have studied the potential benefit of a mutualistic interaction between aphids and an invasive ant species (the red imported fire ant) to cotton plants and soybean plants. Aphids are typically considered pests of crop plants because they feed on plant sap, which can stunt plant growth and reproduction. Fire ants are attracted to aphids by the sugary honeydew they produce and subsequently protect the aphids from their predators. Because fire ants are so aggressive, they attack other insects on the plant, including more damaging plant pests, thereby increasing cotton and soybean yield. Exploiting this method of biological control of pests may ultimately lead to the reduced application of insecticides in cotton and soybean. I intend to initiate a project on the ecological consequences of ant-aphid mutualisms on a state-endangered milkweed species this summer.
In addition to my interests in insect ecology and plant-insect interactions, I am also interested in reproductive investment strategies in birds. In the past, I have investigated the influence of egg quality versus that of parental care on nestling growth and development in house wrens, as well as the relative costs to females birds associated with producing, incubating, and rearing different numbers of offspring. I also spent two years in Panama studying the relative effects of heredity versus environmental variables on the migratory activity of yellow-green vireos. Currently, I am leading a collaborative project to investigate differences in life-history characteristics between house wrens breeding at temperate and tropical latitudes.