Research Interests
Community ecology, disease ecology, forest dynamics, microbial ecology, mycology, plant pathology, statistical modeling.
Education
Duke University, University Program in Ecology, Durham,
NC
Ph.D., 2009, Ecology; Minor: Microbiology
Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
A.B. in Biology, Environmental Science concentration, May 2000
Honors: Magna cum laude, Honors in Biology
Publications
• Clark, J.S. and M.H. Hersh. 2009. Inference in incidence, infection, and impact: Co-infection of multiple hosts by multiple pathogens. Bayesian Analysis 4(2):337 - 366. (link)
• McMahon, S., M.C. Dietze, M.H. Hersh, E.V. Moran, and J.S. Clark. 2009. A predictive
framework to understand forest responses to global change. In The Year
in Ecology and Conservation Biology 2009, eds. R.S. Ostfeld and W.H. Schlesinger. Annals of
the New York Academy of Science 1162: 221–236.
• Clark, J.S, D.M. Bell, M.C. Dietze, M.H. Hersh, I. Ibanez, S.L. LaDeau, S.M. McMahon, C.J.E. Metcalf, E.V. Moran, L. Pangle, and M.S. Wolosin. Models for demography of plant populations. Submitted to The Handbook of Applied Bayesian Analysis, eds. T. O'Hagan and M.West, Oxford University Press.
• Ibanez, I., J.S. Clark, M.C. Dietze, K. Feeley, M.H. Hersh, S.L. LaDeau, A.C. McBride, N.E. Welch, and M.S. Wolosin. 2006. Predicting biodiversity change: outside the climate envelope, beyond the species-area curve. Ecology 87 (8): 1896-1906.
Grants and Awards
• Mycological Society of America Graduate Student Research Prize (Best Oral Presentation), 2009 annual meeting
• Fungal Environmental Sampling and Informatics Network conference travel award, 2009
• Stern Dissertation Fellowship, Duke University, 2008-2009
• Mycological Society of America Mentor Student Travel Award ($500),
2008
• NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant ($11,554), 2007
• Sigma Xi Grant-In-Aid of Research ($400), 2007
• Duke Biology Department Grant-in-Aid ($1000), 2006
• Duke Biology Department Grant-in-Aid ($1000), 2004
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2003-2007
• James B. Duke Fellowship, Duke University, 2002-2006
• W.D. Billings Fellowship, Department of Biology, Duke University,
2002-2003
Presentations
• Oral presentation, 2009 Ecological Society of America annual meeting.
Title: "Why generalist fungi may matter in shaping plant diversity: Parsing out fungal function in a multispecies context"
• Oral presentation, 2009 Mycological Society of America annual meeting.
Title: "Fungal symbionts of tree seedlings and the Janzen-Connell hypothesis"
• Dissertation seminar, Duke University Program in Ecology seminar series, March 20, 2009. Title: “The role of fungal seedling pathogens in temperate forest dynamics”
• Oral presentation, 2008 Ecological Society of America annual meeting.
Title: "Generalist fungal pathogens and seedling recruitment in a temperate
mixed hardwood forest"
• Oral presentation, 2008 Mycological Society of America annual meeting.
Title: "Effects of fungal and oomycete pathogens on seedling recruitment
in a temperate mixed hardwood forest"
• Oral presentation, 2007 Ecological Society of America annual meeting.
Title: "Effects of fungal and oomycete pathogens on seedling recruitment
in a temperate mixed hardwood forest"
• Poster, 2006 American Phytopathological Society/Canadian Phytopathological
Society/Mycological Society of America joint meeting. Title: "Diversity
of rootinhabiting fungi and oomycetes in a Southeastern mixed hardwood forest."
• Poster, 2005 Ecological Society of America annual meeting. Title:
"Molecular analysis of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with
two Southeastern tree species."
Teaching
• Teaching Assistant, Department of Biology, Duke University
Microbiology (Rytas Vilgalys, Xinnian Dong): Fall 2004, Spring 2008
Ecology (Chantal Reid): Spring 2005, Fall 2007
Synergistic Activities
• Manuscript reviewer: Ecological Applications.
• Scholarship Committee Chair, Sigma Xi (Duke chapter). Coordinated
three
university-wide grants for graduate students and postdocs (2006-2008).
• Co-editor of Duke University Biology Graduate Student Handbook (2005
edition)
Professional Affiliations
• Ecological Society of America
• Mycological Society of America
