Arthur Dunham

My research interests are in understanding and predicting the behavior of complex ecological systems. These interests span the interfaces among physiological ecology, evolutionary ecology, and population biology. Currently, my research is focused in four areas: (1) Developing theoretical approaches and predictive models for understanding the effects of climate change on natural populations. This involves elucidating the proximal mechanisms whereby environmental variation affects life history and demographic variation in natural populations. (2) Developing spatially and physiologically structured agent-based models of West Nile virus infection in avian populations and the effects of such infection on avian population dynamics. (3) Evaluating and refining ecological scaling relationships at the individual level that have potentially large consequences at higher levels of ecological organization. This includes critical evaluation of the mechanistic basis of the "metabolic theory of ecology". (4) Developing and implementing a set of protocols for evaluating error propagation in ecological models. I also collaborate on projects involving predictive and genetic models in veterinary behavior and behavioral medicine.