Nathaniel T. Wheelwright is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Natural Sciences in the Department of Biology at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. He earned his B.S. in Biology from Yale University (1975) and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Washington (1982).
Following a Carr Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Florida (1982-1984) and a Visiting Assistant Professorship at Cornell University (1984-1986), he joined the faculty at Bowdoin College. As Director of the Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island, New Brunswick (1987-2004), he established a long-term, on-going study of the population biology and behavioral ecology of Savannah sparrows and tree swallows and the pollination biology of island plants. His dissertation research on seed dispersal by fruit-eating birds in Costa Rica has led to long-term investigations of the reproductive ecology of tropical trees and the publication with Nalini Nadkarni of Monteverde: Ecology and Conservation of a Tropical Cloud Forest (Oxford University Press, 2000).
With support from the Fulbright Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and Bowdoin College, he has taught and conducted research while living with his family in Spain, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Botswana, Ecuador, and New Zealand.
Since 1979 I have been studying interactions between fruit-eating birds and the tropical plants whose seeds they disperse in Monteverde, Costa Rica. That project has expanded to include investigations of sex expression, population genetic structure, phenology, photosynthesis, stable isotopes as markers of seasonal cycles, and lifetime reproduction in a group of tree species in the family Lauraceae. The work of more than 120 biologists working in Monteverde was synthesized in a book published in 2000 by Oxford University Press.
In 1986 I began a long-term study of Savannah Sparrows on Kent Island, New Brunswick, Canada, site of the Bowdoin Scientific Station. Our work on sparrows deals with the avoidance of inbreeding, the acquisition of song, incubation rhythms of experienced and inexperienced birds, post-fledging parental care, and mate choice. Most recently, with support from a National Science Foundation OPUS award, I have been collaborating with Erik Postma (Netherlands) and Lukas Keller (Switzerland) on a quantitative genetics analysis of phenotypic variation in morphological, behavioral and life history traits across12 generations. Other long-term research on Kent Island includes the reproductive ecology of insect-pollinated island plants, and the population biology of Tree Swallows.
Current Courses - Spring 2011
- Ornithology (BIO 258)
- Bird Song, Human Song (BIO 071/MUS 071/ES 071)
- Advanced Independent Study and Honors in Biology (BIO 401)
Previous Courses
Ecology, Introductory Biology, Investigations in Biology, Evolutionary Ecology, Concepts in Evolution and Ecology, Evolution, Conservation Biology, Introduction to Environmental Studies, Advanced Winter Field Ecology, Latin America: Environment and Society, Theory of Mate Selection in Birds, Behavioral Ecology and Population Biology.
Field Courses
Field course on Seed Dispersal in Island Plants for Cuban professional biologists, sponsored by the Departamento de Flora y Fauna, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba (2008)
Semester Program in Tropical Ecology sponsored by Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin Colleges and the Andean Center for Latin American Studies, Quito, Ecuador (2001)
Module on Plant-Animal Interactions for Bolivian graduate students, sponsored by Estación Biológica Tunquini, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Bolivia (2000)
Organization for Tropical Studies, Costa Rica: Tropical Biology: An Ecological Approach (18 courses); Ecología de Poblaciones (2 courses); Undergraduate Semester Abroad Program (2 courses) (1979-2006)
