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Laboratory group - Current students
The table below lists current students or post-doctoral fellows working with me on various projects. For a list of previous researchers, and examples of publications from their work, click here.
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Julien Grangier (Post-doctoral Fellow)
Julien will work on competition and coexistence in ant communities, with introduced wasps (Vespula vulgaris), in beech forest ecosystems. He will look at honeydew useage by ant consumers and how this carbohydrate consumption influences aggression, abundance and food utilization in beech tree communities. E-mail Julien. |
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Allan Burne (Ph.D. student)
Allan is studying the population genetics of introduced wasps (Vespula vulgaris) on populations of the native bush ant, Prolasius advena. Is there any evidence that these wasps are changing the population structure of ants, or having an influence on ant morphology? Allan is working at a variety of sites throughout the South Island with Dr. Peter Ritchie as a co-supervisor. (n.b. he isn't always bald). E-mail Allan. |
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Monica Gruber (Ph.D. student)
Monica is about to start a project examining the influence of genetic diversity on population densities and community assembly. Monica will use the yellow crazy ant (Anoplopis gracilipes) as a model study system to examine this topic. She will work in Australia with Drs. Ben Hoffmann and Peter Ritchie as co-supervisors. I regret to say that Monica is holding a tuatara in this picture. E-mail Monica . |
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Vaughn Bell (Ph.D. student)
Vaughn will be starting a PhD soon, looking at how natural enemies and mutualists such as ants influence mealybug populations in vineyards. Vaughn is specifically looking at grape leafroll virus transmission by mealybugs. In this community, perhaps species such as ants could be seen as indirect mutualists of the virus. How much contol of ants or mealbugs is needed to slow the spread of the virus? E-mail Vaughn . |
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Alex Dixon (Ph.D. student)
Alex is working on alternative reproductive tactics of the Wellington tree weta Hemideina crassidens. These weta are known to produce small and large adult males. How does the reproductive strategy of these two very different males persist? He will be using a variety of techniques to examine these reproductive strategies, including paternity testing. E-mail Alex. |
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Phil Sirvid (Ph.D. student)
Phil is about to begin a project examining the taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the New Zealand spider family Thomisidae. He will use molecular and morphological tools in a revision of this spider family. Phil is already one of NZ's spider experts and will be working on his PhD topic part time, while keeping up with his other work at Te Papa. E-mail Phil. |
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Catherine Duthie (Ph.D. student).
Catherine is working on mechanisms of coexistence of ants in the presence of wasps (Vespula vulgaris), in beech tree forests of the South Island. The ant species she is working with are the native ants Prolasius advena and Huberia striata. E-mail Catherine .
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Enrique Mundaca (Ph.D. student)
Enrique has started in 2007 on a project examining the outbreaks of the Kowhai moth (Uresiphita polygonalis maorialis). What factors promote such outbreaks? What is the influence of plant physiology or populations of natural enemies on outbreak dynamics of these moths? E-mail Enrique. |
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Wan Fatma Zuhara (Ph.D. student)
Wan has started a project examining the lethal and sublethal effects of predators in influencing mosquito population dynamics. Mosquito communities vary considerably: how much of this variation is a function of predatory behaviour, and how much is a function of the behaviour of mosquitoes towards these predators?
E-mail Wan . |
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Amelia Connell (M.Sc. student)
Amelia is examining th diet of three commercially important middle-depth fish species from the Chatham Rise, New Zealand. She is examing hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae), hake (Merluccius australis) and ling (Genypterus blacodes), with emphasis on spatial and ontogenetic variation in the diet of these fish. E-mail Amelia. |
For students who have completed work in my laboratory, click here. |
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Recently published:
Lester, Abbott, Sarty & Burns (2009) Competitive assembly of South Pacific invasive ant communities. BMC Ecology 9: 3. [PDF]
Sagata & Lester (2009) Behavioural plasticity associated with propagule size, resources, and the invasion success... Journal of Applied Ecology 46: 19-27 [PDF] |
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