Amy Arnett
Associate Professor of Ecology
Unity College
aarnett@unity.edu
Current Projects:
Snail Body Size
Teaching
BI 1011: Field Ecology Experience
BI 2004: Population and Community Ecology
BI 3263: Ecology of Natural Communities: Insect Ecology
BI 3464: Ecosystem and Evolutionary Ecology
My Interests
I consider myself an
ecology generalist. To me, this means that I am interested in multiple
levels of questions in ecology -- including behavior,
species-interactions, community structure, and biogeography. My research
includes the study of the evolution of populations, the impact of invasive species on native
communities, and more recently, the
biodiversity of ant communities (see current project link at left).
Some of the questions that my students and I are currently asking with
ants is: What is the baseline level of fluctuation in ant communities,
and how does this baseline differ across habitats? Do trends in indices
of species diversity and relative abundance correlate with trends in
climate measures, soil properties, tree species and growth rate,
phenology, litterfall, or changes in land use? To address these
questions, we are conducting systematic collections on Unity College
campus properties and other locations in Maine, and correlating
biodiversity indices with environmental characteristics. Ants are a
common and dominant part of most terrestrial ecosystems, thus how and
why these communities vary in size, abundance, and diversity, are great
ecological questions.
Along with ecology, I enjoy thinking
about how people teach science. The pedagogy of science teaching is an evolving
and exciting field. I enjoy team-teaching in learning communities, service-learning projects, and have participated in
an interdisciplinary mathematics and science course in a way that increases student grades and
disposition in math.
In my spare time, I play the fiddle. To learn about my music interests check out the Music link at left.
Interesting Ecology Links
Other Interests
Music
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