Eric Lind

Advisor: Pedro Barbosa

Education:
B.S. Biology Georgetown University

Research Interests:
I use theoretical and empirical tools of community ecology to examine the structure of an assemblage of forest macrolepidopteran larvae (moth caterpillars) sharing a single host plant. I am attempting to examine life history differences between abundant and scarce species at a local scale, using a phylogenetically controlled approach. I am also examining the macroecological patterns produced in a long-term survey dataset, comparing different theoretical models and their predictions against this intensively sampled assemblage abundance information. I am also interested in the spatial variance of the assemblage depending on landscape features such as isolation, and in the effect of plants other than the host on the composition of the focal assemblage. I am otherwise generally fond of caterpillar behavior and ecology.

Location of Research:
Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge, Laurel, MD
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD
Other parks in central and southern MD

Publications:
Weiss, M. R., E. M. Lind, M. T. Jones, J. D. Long, and J. L. Maupin. 2003. Uniformity of leaf shelter construction by early-instar larvae of Epargyreus clarus (Hesperiidae), the Silver-spotted Skipper. Journal of Insect Behavior 16(4): 465-480.

Lind, E.M., M.T. Jones, J.D. Long, and M.R. Weiss. 2001. Ontogenetic changes in leaf shelter construction by larvae of Epargyreus clarus (Hesperiidae), the Silver-spotted Skipper. Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society, 54:77-82.

Awards:
Graduate Fellow, University of Maryland College of Life Science, 2003-2005.