Welcome to the research website for Dr. Robert Smith
I am an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Lycoming College and a research associate in the Lycoming College Clean Water Institute. Lycoming College is a primarily undergraduate institution in Williamsport, PA. I teach undergraduate courses in ecology, environmental science, and aquatic biology.
I am developing an undergraduate-focused research program that examines basic and applied questions about natural and human-impacted ecosystems. I have traditionally focused my research on aquatic systems and study biotic responses of aquatic organisms to urbanization, climate change, and other phenomena related to global change. My particular area of expertise is in the biology and taxonomy of aquatic insects, which I use the basis for studies examining community ecology, phenology, dispersal, and life-history processes. As a professor at a PUI, I've expanded my research to terrestrial invertebrate, vertebrate, and plant systems. While rooted in basic ecology, I utilize GIS and quantitative approaches and my research is intimately tied to the restoration and management of aquatic systems. My research also employs an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to determine how the social context of streams and rivers affects management and improvement projects. I believe that a holistic understanding of the ecological and socio-economic mechanisms driving human impacts on aquatic systems is required for effective management of natural resources in an urbanizing world.
I am a native Pennsylvanian who received a B.S. in Biology from Millersville University and my M.S. and Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Maryland. I worked for 3 years as an NSF Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability Postdoctoral Fellow for the Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. I also worked for a year as a visiting professor at the Biology Department, at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.
On this website, you will find information about my research and teaching programs. Please feel free to contact me at smithr@lycoming.edu if you have any questions or comments about my work. Follow me on Twitter: @rfsmithecology.
I am an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Lycoming College and a research associate in the Lycoming College Clean Water Institute. Lycoming College is a primarily undergraduate institution in Williamsport, PA. I teach undergraduate courses in ecology, environmental science, and aquatic biology.
I am developing an undergraduate-focused research program that examines basic and applied questions about natural and human-impacted ecosystems. I have traditionally focused my research on aquatic systems and study biotic responses of aquatic organisms to urbanization, climate change, and other phenomena related to global change. My particular area of expertise is in the biology and taxonomy of aquatic insects, which I use the basis for studies examining community ecology, phenology, dispersal, and life-history processes. As a professor at a PUI, I've expanded my research to terrestrial invertebrate, vertebrate, and plant systems. While rooted in basic ecology, I utilize GIS and quantitative approaches and my research is intimately tied to the restoration and management of aquatic systems. My research also employs an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to determine how the social context of streams and rivers affects management and improvement projects. I believe that a holistic understanding of the ecological and socio-economic mechanisms driving human impacts on aquatic systems is required for effective management of natural resources in an urbanizing world.
I am a native Pennsylvanian who received a B.S. in Biology from Millersville University and my M.S. and Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Maryland. I worked for 3 years as an NSF Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability Postdoctoral Fellow for the Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. I also worked for a year as a visiting professor at the Biology Department, at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.
On this website, you will find information about my research and teaching programs. Please feel free to contact me at smithr@lycoming.edu if you have any questions or comments about my work. Follow me on Twitter: @rfsmithecology.