Michael Benard

Contact/Bio | Research | Publications | Teaching | CV

Curriculum vitae (short version)

Career Goals:

To research and teach evolution and ecology.

Current Position:

Postdoctoral Fellow / Assistant Professor, Michigan Society of Fellows, University of Michigan (September 2005 to present)

Education

B. S. Biology, Cornell University, May 1999
Ph.D. Population Biology, University of California, Davis, Sept 2005

Grants / Scholarships

• Center for Population Biology fellowship, 4 quarters
• 'Achievement Rewards for College Scholars' Foundation Graduate Fellowship
• Sherley Ashton Fellowship ($10,000), UC Davis
• Mathias Grant, ($2,500) UC Natural Reserve System 2001
• Jastro-Shields Grant, ($1,750) UC Davis 2001
• Center for Biosystematics Grant, ($1,000) UC Davis 2001 
• Center for Population Biology Student Research Grants - 2000, 2001

Publications:

Benard, M.F. 2007. Predators and mates: conflicting selection on the size of male Pacific Tree Frogs (Pseudacris regilla).  Journal of Herpetology. 41:317-320.

Davidson, C., M.F. Benard, H.B.Shaffer, J. Parker, C. O’Leary, J.M.
Conlon, and L. A. Rollins-Smith.  2007.  Effects of chytrid and carbaryl exposure on survival, growth and skin peptide defenses in foothill yellow-legged frogs.  Environmental Science and Technology.
41:1771-1776

Benard, M. F.  2006  Survival trade-offs between two predator-induced phenotypes in pacific treefrogs (Pseudacris regilla).  Ecology 87:
340-346

Preisser, E. L., D. I. Bolnick, and M. F. Benard. 2005 Scared to death?
  The effects of  intimidation and consumption in predator-prey interactions.  Ecology. 86:501–509

Near, T. J. and M. F. Benard.  2004. Rapid allopatric speciation in logperch darters  (Percidae: Percina). Evolution. 58 (12):2798–2808

Benard, M. F. 2004  Predator-induced phenotypic plasticity in organisms with complex life histories.  Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics.  35:651-73

Benard, M. F. and Fordyce, J. A. 2003 Are induced defenses costly?
Consequences of predator-induced defenses in western toads (Bufo boreas). Ecology. 84(1): 68-78

Natural History and Technical Notes

Pauly, G. B. and M. F. Benard  2002  Crotalus viridis oreganus (Northern Pacific Rattlesnake).  Costs of
feeding.  Herpetological Review. 33 (1): 56-57

Glor, R. E.; T. M. Townsend; M. F. Benard; A. S. Flecker 2000  Sampling reptile  diversity in the West
Indies with mouse glue-traps. Herpetological Review 31 (2): 88-90

Invited Seminars

Yale University, February 2007
Georgia Institute of Technology, December 2006       
University of Pittsburgh’s Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology July 2006.
California State University, Chico April 2006

Presented Papers

Ecological Society of America, Annual Meeting, Memphis, TN 2006
Society for the Study of Reptiles and Amphibians, Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2006
Society for the Study of Reptiles and Amphibians, Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL, 2005
Ecological Society of America, Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, 2004
Society for the Study of Evolution, Annual Meeting, Ft. Collins, CO, 2004
Society for the Study of Evolution, Annual Meeting, Chico, CA, 2003
Ecological Society of America, Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ, 2002
Society for the Study of Evolution, Annual Meeting, Knoxville, TN, 2001
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Annual Meeting, La Paz, Mexico, 2000
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Annual Meeting, State College, PA, 1999

Additional Research Positions

Assistant Curator, University of California, Davis, Vertebrate Museum, Summer 2004

Teaching

• Research Methods in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty Instructor, University of Michigan, Fall 2006
• Biodiversity Research Seminar, Faculty Instructor, University of Michigan, Winter 2006
• Herpetology Laboratory, Graduate Teaching Assistant, UC Davis: Spring 2005
• Supervised UC Davis Undergraduate Research Assistants in 2003 and 2004
• Introductory Zoology Class, Graduate Teaching Assistant, UC Davis: Fall 2003
• Introductory Ecology Class, Graduate Teaching Assistant, UC Davis: Summer Session II, 2002
• Introductory Evolution Class, Graduate Teaching Assistant, UC Davis: Fall 2002, Fall 2001, Spring 2001, Winter 2000, Fall 2000
• Herpetology Class Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Cornell University, Spring Semester, 1999

Students Advised

• External Dissertation Committee member for Victor Hugo Luja, a doctoral student at the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR), in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Professional Service

• Grant Reviewer for NSF
• Manuscript reviewer for Acta Zoologica Sinica, Animal Behaviour, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Ecological Modeling, Ecology, Evolution, Heredity, Herpetologica, Journal of Herpetology, Proceedings of the Royal Society:  Biological Sciences
• Reviewed Applications for the Michigan Society of Fellows Fall 2005, 2006.
• Reviewed dissertations for University of Michigan’s “Distinguished Dissertation Award” Spring 2006, 2007
• Reviewed applications for Mathias Research Grants for the University of California Natural Reserve System in 2003 and 2004.

Outreach activities

• Presented lectures and led hikes to teach docents-in-training about the natural history, reptiles and amphibians of the University of California Stebbins Cold Canyon Natural Reserve. 2003 and 2004.
• Assisted UC Natural Reserve System staff in writing a book "Natural History of the Quail Ridge Reserve", that is part of a series of books on the University of California Natural Reserves. Wrote species descriptions (primarily for reptiles and amphibians), edited text, and contributed photographs.  Published in 2005.