The Hunter Lab
Plant-Herbivore Interactions
Population Ecology
Ecosystem Ecology
Contact Information: Mark D. Hunter, Professor mdhunter@umich.edu |
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Welcome to our lab page. If you found us here, then you know that we've moved from the University of Georgia to the University of Michigan. My appointment is split between the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and the School of Natural Resources & Environment. It's an ideal split because I get to spend time with students and colleagues from both units, and participate in some truly interdisciplinary research.
Research Interests
In the world around us, organisms interact with one another and with the non-living world. As an ecologist, I study these interactions, I try to understand why they occur, and I consider their ecological consequences. I'm broadly interested in ecological theory, and the application of theory to environmental issues such as environmental change, invasive species, and forest pests. I use as many approaches as I can in my research, including field and lab experiments, mathematical models, plant and soil chemistry, and stable isotopes.
I'm interested in exploring links among the different fields in ecology. For example, there are strong links among population genetics, population dynamics, and ecosystem processes that can help us to explain nature in ways that no one discipline can do on its own. I'm a population and community ecologist by training, but have worked increasingly at the ecosystem level. I have also made brief forays into population genetics when a kind collaborator was willing to hold my hand along the way.
Current Students
I have a great group of graduate and undergraduate students working in my lab at Michigan. They're shown here in their natural habitat (picture 1 and picture 2). Actually, we spend a lot of time outside doing field work at the E.S. George Reserve and the University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS). As you can see, field work at these sites can include quite a bit of fun as well as work. So who are my current students? Enrolled in the doctoral program in EEB are Rachel Vannette and Liz Wason. Enrolled in the masters program in SNRE is Susan Kabat.
Not Enough Information?
We promise that more will be forthcoming as we settle in at Michigan and get organized. In the meantime, you can find more formal descriptions of what we do at the EEB and SNRE faculty web sites.
