Robert D. Stevenson

Department of Biology University of Massachusetts-Boston 100 Morrissey Blvd. Boston, MA 02125 Phone: (617) 287-6579 Fax: (617) 287-6650 E-mail: robert.stevenson@umb.edu

Education

B.S. Tufts University, 1974
M.S. University of Washington, 1979
Ph.D. University of Washington, 1983

Current Position

Associate Professor
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts Boston

Research Interests

Physiological ecology, conservation biology, biodiversity informatics, instrumentation, energetics, temperature regulation, muscle physiology, allometry, insect flight, invertebrate conservation, citizen science, biology of moths and butterflies.

Research in my laboratory focuses on physiological ecology applied to conservation biology and on biodiversity informatics for citizen science. Our physiological work is centered on biomechanics and energetics in butterflies and hawkmoths. Studies currently underway range from behavioral observations on feeding and time budgets to developing instrumentation to record flight patterns in the field. This conservation physiology framework is specifically being applied to migratory butterflies.

Our informatics work, in conjuction with Robert Morris in Computer Science, focuses on the construction of Electronic Field Guides (see http://efg.cs.umb.edu/). We are producing prototype guides, constructing and testing keys, and making field observations using new GPS and PDA tools. We are using object oriented databases and XML to produce extensible software and user friendly interfaces.

Selected Publications

Stevenson, R.D., Mark F. Hill, and Peter J. Bryant. 1995. Organ and cell allometry in Hawaiian Drosophila: How to make a big fly. Phil. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 259:105-110.

Stevenson, R. D., Kathleen Corbo, L.B. Baca, and Quang D. Le. 1995. Cage size
and flight speed of the tobacco hawkmoth, Manduca sexta. J. exp. Biol. 198:1665-1672.

White, R.H., R.D. Stevenson, R. R. Bennett, W.A. Haber and D.E. Cutler. 1994. Wavelength discrimination and the role of ultraviolet vision in the feeding behavior of hawkmoths. Biotropica 26: 427-435.

Stevenson, R.D. and R.J. Wassersug. 1993. Horsepower from a horse. Nature 364: 195.

Hertz, P.E., R.B. Huey, and R.D. Stevenson. 1993. Precision of temperature regulation in ectotherms: the fallacy of the inappropriate question. Amer. Natur. 142:796-818.

Josephson, R.K. and R.D. Stevenson. 1991. The efficiency of a flight muscle from the locust Schistocerca americana. J. of Physiology 442: 413-429.