I am a PhD student working in María Uriarte's lab in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology at Columbia University in New York City.

NEWS
I recently received an NSF-Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant to extend my work linking species functional trait data (including intraspecific variation) with environmental niche models in a phylogenetic context.  This work will involve a lot of manual georeferencing of herbarium collection data to boost up sample sizes for niche modeling.  Stay tuned for updates!!!

Tropical tree community variation across environmental gradients

For my dissertation research, I am building on approaches that combine information of functional traits and evolutionary history to gain a refined view of processes governing community assembly.  Specifically, I am working with tree communities along broad environmental gradients in Puerto Rico.  In collaboration with Dr. John Kress at the Smithsonian Institute, I am building a community phylogeny for the native and naturalized tree species of Puerto Rico.  I will combine this with data on plant functional traits to explore hypotheses about the distribution of biodiversity across the island's precipitation and soil gradients.  Ultimately, these data will be available for use in conservation planning and will provide a more holistic view of diversity.

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Life history trade-offs across life stages of tropical plants

The transition from seed to established seedling represents a major bottleneck in plant demography with serious implications for community dynamics and the maintenance of diversity.  Life history trade-offs can help us understand the variation of strategies that have evolved for confronting environmental hazards.  While these trade-offs have received a lot of theoretical attention, studies examining their mechanistic basis in nature are relatively rare.  I am using data from the Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot to explore the mechanisms behind life history trade-offs at different life stages.

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Creative approaches to teach ecology

I am interested in creative methods to teach ecology and, more generally, critical thinking skills.  Some of my projects have involved delivering science-driven presentations to "non-scientific" audiences and also drawing/distributing comic-style lessons in ecology.  I embrace the challenge to maintain scientific integrity and avoid oversimplification with these projects.  In my current position as an NSF GK-12 fellow, I am working with a 7th grade science class at MS-88 in Brooklyn, NY to develop projects that integrate my research with their core curriculum.

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contact:
Bob Muscarella
Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology
10th Fl. Schermerhorn Ext.
1200 Amsterdam Ave.
NY, NY 10027
(503) 816-8613
bob.muscarella at gmail