Derrick Parker

GLOBES IGERT
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

Derrick received a BS in Animal Sciences in 2006 from Louisiana State University. As an undergraduate he worked in the Veterinary Entomology Lab and engaged in the study of disease transmission and host-parasite-vector complexes. He assisted in several molecular and field projects investigating mechanisms of insecticide resistance in horn fly, Haematobia irritans irritans, populations. He invested the summer of 2005 participating in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in Animal Behavior at Indiana University and under the advisement of Dr. Butch Brodie and Dr. Heather Bleakley examined the impact and evolutionary dynamics of social environment on the behavior of guppies, Poecilia reticulata.

His interests span a wide array of topics and include the study of population dynamics and disease epidemiology and the role of dispersal and anthropogenic development in structuring each of these facets of biology. At the very core of his interests is an enduring affinity in social behavior and understanding the relationships of animal-environment-human interactions. Under the complexities of a globally changing climate, populations are faced with unprecedented pressures in their environment and he hopes to concentrate his dissertation toward understanding how organisms respond in their biology and behavior to an altering climate and non-historical habitats and explore the evolutionary impacts of such reactions. In doing so, he wishes to begin bridging the gap between efforts in conservation and social and political policy and evolutionary biology.

He believes the Globes program will allow him to examine a large portion of these interest areas from a unique and challenging perspective. Other than science, his strongest passions lie in painting and drawing and photography (proven stress relievers!)