 | Oswald J. Schmitz |
Oswald J. Schmitz, who has been newly appointed as Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology, is an expert on the dynamics and structure of terrestrial food webs.
Schmitz is affiliated with both the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. His research focuses specifically on plant-herbivore interactions and how they are shaped by carnivores and soil-nutrient levels, both at the level of herbivore foraging ecology and plant-herbivore population dynamics. He is also examining how natural systems are resistant and resilient to natural and human-induced disturbances.
Schmitz and his research team develop mathematical theories of plant-herbivore interactions and test the theories through field experiments, dealing with a variety of ecosystems ranging from moose deer and snowshoe hare in northern Canada to insects in Connecticut oldfields. His current research focuses on the role of soil nutrients and large mammalian herbivores in limiting forest regeneration after clear-cutting, herbivore responses to predators and the dynamics of ecological food chains and food webs comprised of grassland plants and insects.
Schmitz joined the Yale faculty in 1992 as an assistant professor at F&ES. He became a joint professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 1997 and was granted tenure as a full professor in 2000. Since 2004, he has served as the associate dean for academic affairs at F&ES. He received the school's teaching award in 1999.
A graduate of the University of Guelph in Canada, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in the Department of Zoology, Schmitz went on to obtain his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources. He has served as a member of advisory boards and review panels for a number of organizations involved in conservation and policy initiatives, research or education, including those of the American Forest Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation.
Schmitz has also been active at the local community level, serving since 1995 as a mentor for the New Haven Science Fair and as a member of its steering committee.
T H I S
Oswald Schmitz has been
named to Oastler chair
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