Evan Preisser

Principal Investigator

I am a community ecologist who wants to understand how food webs 'work.' I am interested in interspecific interactions and how these interactions affect community structure. I seek to design and conduct field experiments testing both basic and applied ecological questions, in collaboration with researchers from a range of fields. I use large-scale geographic surveys in combination with manipulative experiments to document general patterns of plant-animal interactions and answer questions generated by these patterns.

Research Associates

Sara Gomez

Post-Doctoral Researcher

I'm fascinated by how plants defend themselves against herbivores and pathogens despite being unable to move. I'm currently investigating how two invasive species feeding on eastern hemlock (hemlock woolly adelgid and elongate hemlock scale) interact with each other, focusing on their effect on resource availability and composition in hemlock foliage. This research will hopefully shed some light into potential hemlock resistance/tolerance mechanisms against these harmful pests.

Graduate Students

Mauri Hickin

M.S. Student

I am interested in interactions between the hemlock woolly adelgid and elongate hemlock scale, and how these herbivores individually and jointly affect the health of eastern hemlock.

Elwood Roberts

M.S. Student (co-advised with R. Casagrande)

I am interested in the possibility that rare, naturally-occurring eastern hemlocks possess some degree of resistance to the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid. My work focusses on propogating cuttings from adelgid-resistant trees, then testing their adelgid resistance relative to cuttings from adelgid-susceptible eastern hemlocks.

Jamie Rafter

Ph.D. Student

I am interested in predator-prey interactions, and how the invasive chinese mantid overcomes prey toxicity when attacking and eating cardenolide-defended monarch caterpillars.

URI-related publications

Rafter, J.L., Agrawal, A.A., and E.L. Preisser. 2013. Chinese mantids gut toxic monarch caterpillars: avoidance of prey defense? Ecological Entomology 38(1): 76-82
[PDF]

Undergraduate Students

Justin Vendettuoli

How do predators change prey behavior, and how do different prey types change predator behavior?

Lab Alumni

Liahna Gonda-King

M.S. in Biology 2010-2013

URI-related publications

Gonda-King, L., Radville, L., and E.L. Preisser. 2012. False ring formation in eastern hemlock branches: impacts of hemlock woolly adelgid and elongate hemlock scale. Environmental Entomology 41(3): 523-531
[PDF]

Laura Radville

M.S. in Biology 2009-2012

Currently: Ph.D. student in the Ecology Intercollege Graduate Program at Pennsylvania State University in the laboratory of Dr. David Eissenstat

URI-related publications

Gonda-King, L., Radville, L., and E.L. Preisser. 2012. False ring formation in eastern hemlock branches: impacts of hemlock woolly adelgid and elongate hemlock scale. Environmental Entomology 41(3): 523-531
[PDF]

Radville, L., Chaves, A., and E.L. Preisser. 2011. Variation in plant defense against herbivores: evidence for a hypersensitive response in eastern hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis). Journal of Chemical Ecology 37(6): 592-597.
[PDF]

Mailea Miller-Pierce

M.S. in Biology 2007-2010

Currently: Ph.D. student in the IGERT program at Washington State University in the laboratory of Dr. John Bishop

URI-related publications

Ingwell, L.L., Miller-Pierce, M.R., Trotter, R.T. III, and E.L. Preisser. 2012. Vegetation and invertebrate community response to eastern hemlock decline in southern New England. Northeastern Naturalist 19(4): 541-558
[PDF]

Miller-Pierce, M.R., and E.L. Preisser. 2012. Asymmetric priority effects influence the success of invasive forest insects. Ecological Entomology 37: 350-358
[PDF]

Preisser, E.L., Miller-Pierce, M.R, Vansant, J.L., and D.A. Orwig. 2011. Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) regeneration in the presence of hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) and elongate hemlock scale (Fiorinia externa). Canadian Journal of Forest Research 41(12): 2433-2439
[PDF]

Miller-Pierce, M.R., Orwig, D.A., and E.L. Preisser. 2010. Effects of hemlock woolly adelgid and elongate hemlock scale on eastern hemlock growth and foliar chemistry. Environmental Entomology 39(2): 513-519.
[PDF]

Laura Ingwell

M.S. in Biology 2007-2009

Currently: PhD. candidate at the University of Idaho in the laboratory of Dr. Nilsa Bosque-Perez

URI-related publications

Ingwell, L.L., Miller-Pierce, M.R., Trotter, R.T. III, and E.L. Preisser. 2012. Vegetation and invertebrate community response to eastern hemlock decline in southern New England. Northeastern Naturalist 19(4): 541-558
[PDF]

Ingwell, L.L., and E.L. Preisser. 2011. Using citizen science programs to identify host resistance in pest-invaded forests. Conservation Biology 25(1): 182-188.
[PDF]

Ingwell, L.L., Brady, J., Fitzpatrick, M.C., Maynard, B., Casagrande, R., and E.L. Preisser. 2009. Intraspecific variation in Tsuga canadensis foliar chemistry. Northeastern Naturalist 16(4): 585-594.
[PDF]