Eye to eye with the world of substrate-borne vibrational communication.

Campylenchia nymph (Hemiptera: Membracidae)

Cladonota adult (Hemiptera: Membracidae)

Entylia adults (Hemiptera: Membracidae) being tended by ants

Membracis mexicana (Hemiptera: Membracidae) on a Calliandra (Fabaceae) host plant, Costa Rica

Red bat roosting on an treehopper host plant

Wisconsin Fall

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Information for Grad Students

My lab is geared towards research on the behavior of insects, spiders and other arthropods. Some of the subjects that most interest me include:

• Sexual selection: The evolution of behavioral and morphological traits under pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection.
• Origins of diversity in sexual and behavioral traits: Phenotypic plasticity associated with experience of social interactions; causes and consequences of genetic variation in reaction norms.
• Vibrational communication: The evolution, ecology and behavioral ecology of substrate-borne signaling.
• Male-female duets: What the sexes say to each other at different stages of the reproductive process, and why.
• Cognition and memory: The ecology and evolution of the mind in invertebrates.

My advising philosophy is centered on the idea that projects develop through an interaction in which student and advisor act as colleagues. In some cases it may be helpful to begin working on a predetermined experiment to get going, and from that basis develop a novel project. However, the main goal of training in my lab is to develop creative and independent thinkers and researchers.

If you are interested in joining my lab, send me an email (rafa@uwm.edu) and we can discuss our interests and possible projects that we could develop.

Applying to the Graduate Program in the Department of Biological Sciences at UWM:

Minimum requirements for admission to the program include an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 and GRE scores (verbal and quantitative) in the 50th percentile or higher. (Requirements for admission to my lab are stricter than that.)

Application forms to apply to the department can be found online at: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Biology/Docs/newreq.html or requested by email from the graduate school (gradschool@uwm.edu).

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