91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ

Ryan Trimbath

Title: IB PhD Student
Dept/Program: Biology
Email: rjt34@zips.uakron.edu

Research

After graduating from OU, I spent the following years working as a field biologist enjoying many adventures working with turtles, trees and birds across the United States.  After five years of working on other people’s research projects I felt it was time to start my own!  I was offered (and accepted) an opportunity to attend graduate school at the University of 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ as a masters student in Biology supported by an Industrial Assistantship with the Summit Metro Parks.  As a field biologist this was a great experience as I was able to continue to work in the field on a variety of projects related to natural resource management in Northeast Ohio while also working on my thesis.  For my research I studied the role of exotic earthworms and white-tailed deer as drivers of biotic homogenization in forest plant communities.

I completed the M.S. program in the summer of 2014 and entered into the Integrated Biosciences PhD program at the University of 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ in the lab of Dr. Anne Wiley.  Inspired by my coursework and conversations during the M.S. program I have decided to explore new research interests. I am particularly interested in the ecology of individuals and the distribution/occurrence of individual resource specialists within generalist populations.  I will utilize stable isotope techniques to unlock hidden information about organisms and their relationships with the environment.  By combining contemporary specimens with those available in museum collections I plan to study long-term changes in animal populations.  I am excited for the adventures to come as they will find me in a completely new environment: The Lab!

Education

B.S. in Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Ohio University. M.S. Biology University of 91×ÔÅÄÊÓƵ