Laurel S. Collins

Research Interests:

Identifying environmental changes in the geologic past and the extent to which they have affected evolution; Evolutionary rates, communities, and organismal morphology of forans; Relationships between fossil species and their environments are used to track evolutionary, paleoceanographic, paleoclimatic and tectonic changes through time.

Student Projects:

Evolution of deep-sea Caribbean foraminifera, seagrass foraminifera of Florida Bay, marine paleoenvironments of the Miocene of
Ecuador

Relevant Papers:

Geology 24(8): 687-690.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99: 7841-7843.

Research Interests:

The application of molecular data to address systematic and evolutionary questions, particularly within the Mollusca.

Student Projects:

Population biology of applesnails; Systematics of vermetid molluscs; Population genetics of conchs; Population genetics of Asian swamp eels.

RepresentativePapers:

Nature376:163-165.

Systematic Biology43(3):449-459

SystematicBiology43(4):482-496

Nature 373:565-566

Research Interests:

Ecology and evolutionary biology of tropical amphibians and reptiles; declining amphibians in the Neotropics; restoration of alluvial forest in northeastern Costa Rica.

Student Projects:

Status of a high elevation salamander in Costa Rica; Leaf-litter amphibians and reptiles in Peru; Ecology of Rana grylioin south Florida; Restoration of sea turtle nesting sites on the west coast of Florida. 

Representative Papers:

Climatic Change 39:541-561

American Museum Novitates3213:1-71 Am. Mus. Novitates 3172: 1-56

Research Interests:

Molecular markers in plant conservation, plant evolution and plant systematic studies; Molecular systematic studies with cycads and palms.

Student Projects:

Origin and systematics of the Galapagos Island endemic genus Darwiniothamnus (Asteraceae);Conservation genetics and restoration ecology of Jacquemontia reclinata (Convolvulaceae);Molecular phylogeny study of the Macaronesian genus Bystropogon (Lamiaceae)

Representative Papers:

Systematic Botany 24: 249-266.

Research Interests:

Aquatic community ecology, algal
biology, Everglades periphyton, Paleoecology of lakes and wetlands, Diatom taxonomy

Student Projects:

Representative Papers:

Diatom Research 15: 75-130.

Journal of Paleolimnology 20: 71-90

Research Interests:

Plant-herbivore interactions and pollination; Extrafloral nectary-mediated interactions between insects and plants.

Student Projects:

Pollination in pine rockland fragments; 
Population biology of Chamaecrista lineata var. keyensis in the Lower Keys; Mosquito pollination in the Everglades; Restoration of pine rockland in the Lower Keys; Reproductive biology of Amorpha crenulata; Interaction of pollination and herbivory in Centrosema virginiana; Phenology and ecophysiology of trees of the Keys; Pollination and breeding system of Jacquemontia reclinata; Microhabitat variation and reproductive biology of Jacquemontia reclinata 

Representative Papers:

American Midland Naturalist 140(2):393-396.

Biotropica 30(2): 179-189. 

Research Interests:

Ecology of aquatic macrophytes in the Everglades; Evolution of plant mating systems

Student Projects:

Effects of hydroperiod on algal mat communities; Nutrient dynamics of bladderworts

Representative Papers:

Richards, J.H. In press. Bladder function in Utricularia purpurea Walter: is carnivory important? American Journal of Botany.

Research Interests:

Animal communication from evolution to molecules, focusing on electric fish and songbirds (behavior, ecology, endocrinology, evolution, neurobiology, physiology).

Student Projects:

Reproductive behavior, signaling, and mate choice in electric fish; Effects of electric waveform on active electrolocation; Spectral tuning of sensory brain maps; Regulation of ion channel distribution in electricity- producing tissues; Endocrine regulation and energetics of electric signal waveforms; Estimation of auditory distance in songbirds.

Representative Papers:

Nature.400:254-256

Animal Behaviour. 56: 467-477

Research Interests:

Population and Community Ecology; Life history patterns and phenotypic plasticity; Population Genetics and gene flow; Fish Ecology; Ecology of the Everglades.

Student Projects:

Predator-prey studies, population structure, food-web ecology, fish life history

Representative Papers:

Ecology 78:1370-1381;

Evolution 52:1781-1801