| Title: | Professor |
| Dept: | Biology, Geology, Environmental Science |
| Office: | SI 213 |
| Phone: | 216-523-7553 |
| Fax: | 216-687-6972 |
| Email: | R.KREBS@csuohio.edu |
| Address: | 2121 Euclid Ave. SI 213, Cleveland, OH 44115 |
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| Education: | ||
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B.S., Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, 1984
M.S., Biology, Virginia Tech, 1986 Ph.D., Zoology, Arizona State University, 1989 | ||
| Brief Bio: | ||
| My research interests have moved from a long history of work on the underlying physiological and ecological causes of population divergence primarily in Drosophila as a model organism, to an examination of the response of freshwater mussels in the family Unionidae to the many stresses imposed by urbanization, agriculture and habitat destruction. Loss of unionid mussels has become both a state and national wildlife concern. Within the Lake Erie watershed, populations in the numerous small rivers flowing to the lake are now largely isolated, as the introduction of zebra and quagga mussels (family Dreissinidae) decimated native mussel populations. My goal is to describe the biogeographic history of unionids in the region. Approaches include studies of both historical change in distrubutions by accessing museum collections, conducting surveys of the mussel fauna in each of northern Ohio's rivers, and by conducting a genetical analysis of mtDNA variation. Together these approaches will enable me to describe the ecological history of this taxonomic group and to model a plan for the recovery of these threatened fauna.
At present I am active surveying the regions streams, with collaboration from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Cleveland Metroparks, and the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research reserve. Summers provide my primary field season, with genetic analysis the focus during the academic terms. | ||
| Research Interests: | ||
| Research interests are varied, but my primary area of interest at this time involve studies of the historical change in the distrubutions of freshwater mussels (Unionidae). These mussels have declined in abundance and diversity within the region, making this research important to efforts in their conservation. This system provides an important tool for understanding changes to the ecosystem, as the Lake Erie community is geologically young. Almost all of the species present in this region today colonized the area after the retreat of the last glaciers. Therefore, this system also provides a model of genetic changes associate with colonizing new areas, and the impacts to populations often isolated in various refugia after they become established.
With a small ecological group of faculty, I remain actively involved with graduate students whose interests can be quite diverse, including evolutionary changes in smallmouth bass, coyotes and stone flies in the Great Lakes region, and even the evolution of flower dimorphism and the effect of environmental stress on leaf symmetry. Most new projects, however, are expected to be directed towards studies of unionids and other mollusks. | ||
| Teaching Areas: | ||
| Animal diversity, Behavior, Biogeography, Evolution, Population Biology, and Human Biology (for non-majors). | ||
| Professional Affiliations: | ||
| European Evolution Society
Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society Ohio Academy of Sciences Sigma Xi Cell Stress Society International | ||
| University Service: | ||
| Currently I serve as the AAUP Treasurer
and member of the University Academic Misconduct and Graduate Grade Dispute Committees | ||
| Professional Service: | ||
| Associate Editor, Genetica, an international journal of ecological genetics
Occasional Reviewer Journals: Annales de Limnologie, Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Austral Ecology, Canadian Journal of Zoology, Cell Stress and Chaperones, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Environmental Entomology, Evolution, Functional Ecology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Journal of Experimental Biology, Journal of Great Lakes Research, Journal of Insect Physiology, Journal of Medical Entomology, Journal of Thermal Biology, Kansas Academy of Sciences Transactions, Molecular Ecology, Nature, Northwestern Naturalist, Oceanologia, Oecologia, Ohio Journal of Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) Review of Texts/Edited Books: Miller and Harley, Zoology 5th ed., selected chapters, MacGraw Hill, Freeman and Herron, Evolutionary Analysis, 1st ed., Prentice Hall, Halliburton, Population Genetics 1st ed., selected chapters, Prentice Hall. Goodenough, Human Biology, 1st ed. selected chapters, Prentice Hall; Environmental Factors, Cellular Stress and Evolution, S. C. Lakhotia, editor. Reviews for Grant Agencies: served on an NSF Panel for DDIG awards (March, 2003), NSF grant reviews (several annually), NWO Veni programme (Innovational Research Incentive Scheme, The Netherlands). Outside Ph.D. dissertation evaluations: Aarhus Univeristy, DK, Melbourne University, AU. | ||