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Department of Biology : Faculty Profile

E. Binney Girdler

Associate Professor of Biology
Co-Director of Environmental Studies Program
PhD Princeton University; MES Yale University; BA University of Virginia

Tel: 269-337-5977 FAX: 269-337-7251
Office: Dow 307 Email: girdler@kzoo.edu

    
2008-present   Associate Professor of Biology, Kalamazoo College, MI
2007   Robert F. and Harriet G. Varney Assistant Professor of Biology (3 year endowed professorship)
2001-2008   Assistant Professor of Biology, Kalamazoo College, MI
1999-2001   NSF Post-doctoral Teaching Fellow and Visiting Scholar, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT

Research Interests
My research involves studying the structure and dynamics of terrestrial plant communities. Specifically I ask questions about the origin and maintenance of diversity in shoreline communities, grasslands, and forests. I also have an interest in applied conservation biology, and develop relationships with area natural resource agencies and non-profit conservation groups in order to match my expertise (and access to motivated students) with their research needs. I encourage students to contact me if they are interested in ecological research, during the academic year or during the summer.

Courses
BIOL 115 Environmental Science
BIOL 124 Introduction to Physiology & Ecology with Lab
BIOL 224 Ecology & Conservation with Lab
BIOL 232 Plant Biology with Lab
BIOL 312 Population and Community Ecology with Lab
ENVS 490 Environmental Studies Senior Seminar (for concentrators)

Grants and Awards
National Science Foundation RUI Award (2009, $135,000) in support of a project to study the interaction of scale, habitat, and dispersal limitation in Great Lakes shoreline plant communities.

Kalamazoo Community Foundation Environment Now (2007, $14,500), shared with Joan Esson, Chemistry Department, to support research on effects of a subdivision development on a local wetland ecosystem

Hanes Foundation (2004, $2500) in support of prairie restoration research in cooperation with the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy

National Science Foundation (2002, $43,000) in support of a project entitled: "Incorporating real-world experience in diverse science curricula through community building partnerships"

Selected Publications
(* denotes undergraduate coauthor)

Girdler, E. B. and B. T. Connor Barrie*. 2008. The scale-dependent importance of habitat factors and dispersal limitation in structuring of a Great Lakes shoreline plant community. Plant Ecology. DOI: 10.1007/s11258-008-9396-z

Siccama, T. G., T. J. Fahey, C. E. Johnson, T. W. Sherry, E. G. Denny, E. B. Girdler, G. E. Likens, and P. A. Schwarz. 2007.  Population and Biomass Dynamics of Trees in a Northern Hardwood Forest at Hubbard Brook.  Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37:737-749. (pdf)

Girdler, E. B. and T. Radtke*. 2006.  Individual scale spatial pattern reveals density dependence and nonrandom herbivory in the threatened dune thistle, Cirsium pitcheri. American Midland Naturalist 156:213-228. (pdf)

Girdler, E. Binney, Stephen C. Trombulak, and Ana Ruesink. 2002. Guidelines for partnerships in applied ecology and education. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 83 (2): 123-124. (pdf)

 

Other interests

Most of my spare time is spent with my two kids, now nine and four. I store their cute pictures for online consumption at my Picasa Web Album. They both could read before they were three, using the methods in a book called Native Reading.