CURRICULUM VITAE

Merrill A. Peterson

EDUCATION

1994 Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University.

1987 B.S. in Zoology, University of Washington.

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS

2007- Professor, Biology Department, Western Washington University

2004- Adjunct Associate Professor, Entomology Department, Washington State Univ.

2003-4 Humboldt Fellow, Zool. Institut und Museum, Universität Hamburg, Germany

2001-2007 Associate Professor, Biology Department, Western Washington University

1997-2001 Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Western Washington University

1994-1997 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Entomology, Univ. of Maryland, College Park

1990-1993 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Section of Ecology & Systematics, Cornell Univ.

1987-1990 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, Cornell University

AWARDS & HONORS

2003 Research Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany

2003 Named as Beckman Scholars Mentor in Beckman Foundation Award to WWU

1993 Outstanding Teaching Assistant, College of Agric. & Life Sci., Cornell Univ.

1987 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship

1987 Cornell University Sage Supplemental Fellowship

TEACHING (1997 – present)

Biol. 101 Introduction to Biology

Biol. 202 General Biology II, with lab

Biol. 325 Ecology

Biol. 326 Ecology lab

Biol. 432 Evolution

Biol. 434 Population Biology, with lab

Biol. 445/545 Aquatic Insect Ecology Seminar

Biol. 445/545 Population Genetics

Biol. 445/545 Species & Speciation Seminar

Biol. 445/545 Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar

Biol. 462 Entomology, with lab

Biol. 503 Metapopulation Biology Seminar

Biol. 503 Evolutionary Ecology Seminar

Biol. 525 Research Mentorship

Biol. 598 Teaching Practicum

RESEARCH EXPERTISE: Insect Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

MENTORING

Research Advisor to 46 undergraduates, 3 M.S. students, and 1 postdoctoral research associate

Faculty Advisor for 3 Honors Theses

Minor committee member for 16 M.S. students

GRANTS

2006 Summer Research Grant, Bureau for Faculty Research, WWU, A field guide to Pacific Northwest Insects.

2005 NSF-REU Supplement to DEB-0212652: for two students.

2004 NSF-REU Supplement to DEB-0212652: for two students.

NSF-INT Supplement to DEB-0212652 for sabbatical research in Germany.

2003 NSF-REU Supplement to DEB-0212652: for two students.

2002 NSF Grant, DEB-0212652, RUI: Gene flow, selection, and the evolution of premating barriers.

NSF Grant, DBI-0216618, MRI/RUI: Instrumentation for sequencing and genomic analysis.

US Fish & Wildlife Service, via subcontract from Coastal Resource Alliance, Genetic variation in released populations of Prokelisia marginata.

2001 Bureau of Faculty Research, WWU, PDA-31: The evolution of reproductive barriers between hybridizing beetles: development of an NSF proposal to test speciation theory.

2000 Bureau of Faculty Research, WWU, PDA-27: Understanding the evolutionary significance of hybridization.

1994 Maryland Agric. Exp. Sta. Competitive Grants Program, ENTO-95-10: The influence of habitat fragmentation on the genetic diversity of Chesapeake Bay marsh insects: implications for the design of habitat preserves (M.A. Peterson & R.F. Denno).

1991 NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant, BSR-9100860: Dispersal in metapopulations of butterflies: implications for the dynamics and genetic structure of local populations (R.B. Root & M.A. Peterson).

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS (*undergraduate coauthors; **grad student coauthors)

Denno, R.F., Peterson, M.A., M.R. Weaver, and D.J. Hawthorne. In press. Life history evolution in native and introduced populations. Pp. XXX-XXX in (K.J. Tilmon, ed.) Evolutionary biology of plant and insect relationships. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Peterson, M.A., LaGasa, E.H., Robinson, G.S., Passoa, S., and D. Holden. 2007. First report of Oecophora bractella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) in North America. Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society 61: 165-171.

Monsen, K.J., *Honchak, B.M., *Locke, S.E., and M.A. Peterson. 2007. Cytonuclear disequilibria in Chrysochus hybrids is not due to patterns of mate choice. Journal of Heredity 98: 325-330.

Peterson, M.A., Dobler, S., *Larson, E.L., *Juárez, D., Schlarbaum, T., Monsen, K.J., and W. Francke. 2007. Profiles of cuticular hydrocarbons mediate male mate choice and sexual isolation between hybridising Chrysochus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Chemoecology 17: 87-96.

**Savage, A. and M.A. Peterson. 2007. Mutualism in a community context: the positive feedback between an ant-aphid mutualism and a gall-making midge. Oecologia 151: 280-291.

**Schwartz, S. and M.A. Peterson. 2006. Strong material benefits and no longevity cost of multiple mating in an extremely polyandrous beetle Behavioral Ecology 17: 1004-1010.

Peterson, M.A.,*Honchak, B., *Locke, S., *Beeman, T., *Mendoza, J., *Green, J., *Buckingham, K., *White, M.A., and K. Monsen. 2005. Relative abundance and the species-specific reinforcement of male mating preference in the Chrysochus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) hybrid zone. Evolution 59: 2639-2655.

Peterson, M.A., Monsen, K., *Pedersen, H., *Bearden, J., and T. *McFarland. 2005. Direct and indirect evidence of low hybrid fitness in the Chrysochus hybrid zone. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 84: 273-286.

Denno, R.F. and M.A. Peterson. 2004. From ecosystems to molecules: cascading effects of habitat persistence on dispersal strategies and the genetic structure of populations. Pp. 147-156 in (A. Moya and E. Font, eds.), Evolution: From Molecules to Ecosystems. Oxford Univ. Press.

Denno, R.F., Gratton, C., Peterson, M.A., Langellotto, G.A., Finke, D.L., and A.F. Huberty. 2002. Bottom-up forces mediate natural-enemy impact in a phytophagous insect community. Ecology 83: 1443-1458.

Peterson, M.A., Dobler. S., *Holland, J., *Tantalo, L., and S. *Locke. 2001. Behavioral, molecular, and morphological evidence for a hybrid zone between Chrysochus auratus and C. cobaltinus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 94: 1-9.

Peterson, M.A., Denno, R.F., and L. *Robinson. 2001. Apparent widespread gene flow in the predominantly flightless planthopper, Tumidagena minuta. Ecological Entomology 26: 629-637.

Denno, R.F., Peterson, M.A., Gratton, C., Cheng, J., Langellotto, G.A., Huberty, A.F., and D.L. Finke. 2000. Feeding-induced changes in plant quality mediate interspecific competition between sap-feeding herbivores. Ecology 81: 1814-1827.

Denno, R.F. and M.A. Peterson. 2000. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, mobile planthoppers elude natural enemies and deteriorating host plants. American Entomologist 46: 95-109.

Peterson, M.A. and R.F. Denno. 1998. The influence of dispersal and diet breadth on patterns of genetic isolation by distance in phytophagous insects. American Naturalist 152: 428-446.

Peterson, M.A. and R.F. Denno. 1998. Life history strategies and the genetic structure of phytophagous insect populations. Pp. 263-322 in: Genetic structure and local adaptation in natural insect populations: Effects of ecology, life history, and behavior (S. Mopper & S. Strauss, eds.). Chapman & Hall, New York, NY.

Peterson, M.A. 1997. Host plant phenology and dispersal by a montane butterfly: Causes and consequences of uphill movement. Ecology 78: 167-180.

Peterson, M.A. and R.F. Denno. 1997. The influence of intraspecific variation in dispersal strategies on the genetic structure of planthopper populations. Evolution 51: 1189-1206.

Peterson, M.A. 1996. Long-distance gene flow in the sedentary butterfly, Euphilotes enoptes (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Evolution 50:1990-1999.

Denno, R.F., Roderick, G.K., Peterson, M.A., Huberty, A.F., Döbel, H.G., Eubanks, M.D., Losey, J.E., and G.A. Langellotto. 1996. Habitat persistence underlies intraspecific variation in the dispersal strategies of planthoppers. Ecological Monographs 66: 389-408.

Peterson, M.A. 1995. Phenological isolation, gene flow and developmental differences among low- and high-elevation populations of Euphilotes enoptes (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Evolution 49: 446-455.

Peterson, M.A. 1995. Unpredictability in the facultative association between larvae of Euphilotes enoptes (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) and ants. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 55: 209-223.

Denno, R.F., and M.A. Peterson. 1995. Density-dependent dispersal and its consequences for population dynamics. Pp. 113-130 in Population dynamics: New approaches and synthesis (N. Cappuccino and P.W. Price, eds.). Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

Peterson, M.A. 1993. The nature of ant attendance and the survival of larval Icaricia acmon (Lycaenidae). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 47: 8-16.

Edwards, J., Crawford, R.L., Sugg, P.M., and M.A. Peterson. 1986. Arthropod colonization in the blast zone of Mount St. Helens. Pp. 329-333 in Mount St. Helens: Five Years Later (S.A.C. Keller, ed.). Eastern Washington University Press, Cheney, WA.

 INVITED BOOK REVIEWS

Peterson, M.A. 2005. Is less more? (review of D.J. Futuyma (2005) Evolution. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA). Evolution 59: 2721-2723.