Plant defense
My research focused on plant defense theory (why some plants are well defended and others are not), and the challenges of testing hypotheses about plant defense. Some examples:
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Stamp N (2003) Out of the quagmire of plant defense hypotheses. Quarterly Review of Biology 78:23-55
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Stamp NE (2003) Theory of plant defensive level: example of process and pitfalls in development of ecological theory. Oikos 102:672-678
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Yang Y, Stamp NE (1995) Simultaneous effects of nighttime temperature and an allelochemical on performance of an insect herbivore. Oecologia 104:225-233
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Plant-insect interactions
My research also addressed the set of factors that determine how well insect predators do in different situations, in particular when prey contain plant defensive chemicals, when prey are scarce, and temperature (or climate) changes. Some examples:
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Nadeau H, Stamp N (2003) Effect of prey quantity and temperature on foraging behavior and nest demography of social wasps. Ecological Entomology 28:328-339
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Stamp NE (2001) Effects of prey quantity and quality on predatory wasps. Ecological Entomology 26:292-301
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Stamp NE (2001) Enemy-free space via host plant chemistry and dispersion: Assessing the influence of tritrophic interactions. Oecologia 128:153-163
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Bozer SF, Traugott MS, Stamp NE (1996) Combined effects of allelochemical-fed and scarce prey on the generalist insect predator Podisus maculiventris. Ecological Entomology 21:328-334
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Science education research
Recent advances in science education show that teaching science by lecturing and having students read thick textbooks is not very effective. My current research projects focus on course-based undergraduate research experience (aka CURE). Other research was on challenging students’ misconceptions and teaching for a sophisticated understanding of ecology.
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First-year Research Immersion (FRI) program
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Real Research, Real Early - Binghamton Magazine Spring 2019
Science & culture
I write articles about science-and-culture for mass media and trade magazines. Topics include nurturing bumblebees, conservation of purple martins, Thomas Jefferson’s vegetable garden at Monticello, and the hunt for genetic variation in wild tomatoes in South America. Publication, for example, in Heirloom Gardener, History Magazine, Muse and Odyssey.