Research:
My research interests lie at the crossroads between physiology,
behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology. This integrative
approach is a powerful and rewarding way to understand the mechanisms
and consequences of parental investments in determining offspring performance.
The recognition that maternal effects are an important factor responsible
for variation in offspring traits (e.g., size, behavior, habitat selection,
and growth) has provided a pivotal point for my research interests.
I integrate laboratory and field studies to understand the connections
between and relative contributions of environmental, genetic, physiological
and behavioral factors in determining offspring performance. I
interpret offspring performance to be very broad (behavior, growth,
survival), although I am clearly interested in those traits that can
be linked with fitness. Currently, I am working with a population
of American coots (Fulica americana) breeding in the prairie couteau
region of central North Dakota. I encourage students working in
my lab to think broadly and explore questions of evolutionary significance
in variety of taxa.
Education:
•1994-2000, Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
Department of Zoology and Genetics, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Advisor: Carol M. Vleck. Dissertation: Maternal effects in the American
coot: Consequences for offspring growth and survival.
•1988-1992 B.A., Biology, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
June, 1992. Advisor: Paul R. Sotherland. Thesis: Characteristics of
eggs and hatchlings of the altricial double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax
auritus) and the precocial ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis).
Professional Experience / Appointments
•2002-current, Assistant professor of Zoology, North Dakota State
University
•2000-2001: Postdoctoral Fellow, Indiana University. Principle
Investigator: Ellen D. Ketterson. Correlated traits of male and female
Dark-eyed juncos: Understanding evolutionary constraints
Teaching:
•Ornithology (Indiana University, Fall 2000)
•Endocrinology (North Dakota State University, Fall 2002, and
all following odd spring years)
(click here to see syllabus)
•Physiological Ecology (North Dakota State University, Spring
2003, and all following falls)
•Animal Behavior (North Dakota State University,
all even spirng years)
Publications:
•2001 Reed, W. L., and C. M. Vleck. Functional significance
of variation in egg-yolk androgens: An example from the American coot
Oecologia 128: 164-171. (See
Abstract)
•2001 Williams, T. D., W. L. Reed and R. L. Walzem. Egg size variation:
mechanisms and hormonal control. In A. Dawson, & C. M. Chaturvedi
eds. Avian Endocrinology. Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi, India.
•1999 Reed, W. L., A. M. Turner, and P. R. Sotherland. Consequences
of egg-size variation in the Red-winged Blackbird. The Auk 116(2): 549-552.
(See Abstract)
•1999 Reed, W. L., and F. J. Janzen. Natural selection by avian
predators on shell size and color of a freshwater snail. Biological
Journal of the Linnean Society 67: 331-342. (See
Abstract)
•1999 Vleck, C. M., T. L. Bucher, W. L. Reed, and A. Y. Kristmundsdottir.
Changes in reproductive hormones and body mass through the reproductive
cycle in the Adelie Penguin (Pygocelis adeliae), with associated data
on courting-only individuals. In: N. Adams and R. Slotow, eds. Proc.
22 Int. Ornithol. Congr. Durban, University of Natal: 1210-1223.
Manuscripts in Preparation:
•Reed, W. L., and C. M. Vleck. Detecting fitness
consequences of maternal effects: the utility of foster experiments.
The American Naturalist,
•Reed, W. L., D. Vleck and C. M. Vleck. An experimental test of
limitations to embryonic metabolism. In preparation for submission to
Physiological Zoology.
•Reed, W. L., C. M. Vleck and D. Vleck. Patterns of egg composition
and embryonic growth in American coots. In preparation for submission
to Condor
•Reed, W. L. and G. Benoy. Relative importance of pre- and post-hatching
influences on growth of American coot chicks. In preparation for submission
to Ecology.
Presented Papers:
•2002 Reed, W. L., and M. E. Clark. Integrating
ecological processes and endocrinology using individual-based models.
Invited participant, NSF/ESF funded workshop “Adaptation and constraint
in avian reproduction: Integrating ecology and endocrinology.”
Wageningen, The Netherlands.
•2001 Reed, W. L. and C. M. Vleck. Experimental approaches to
detecting the significance of maternal effects: Egg size effects in
the American coot. Invited speaker, round table discussion on Non-genetical
Inheritance. XXVII International Ethological Conference, Tuebingen,
Germany (August).
•2001 Reed, W. L. Understanding nature and nurture: survival and
growth in juvenile American coots. Invited speaker, Western Michigan
University, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
•2001 Reed, W. L. Disentangling nature and nurture in precocial
birds: Offspring performance of American coots. Invited speaker, Virginia
Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia.
•2001 Reed, W. L. Allocation of maternal resources to offspring:
Consequences for offspring growth and survival in the American coot.
EEB Brown Bag Seminar, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
•2001 Reed, W. L., C. M. Vleck and D. Vleck. The plateau phase
in egg metabolic rates: Evidence for oxygen limitation. Society for
Integrative and Comparative Biology, Chicago, Illinois.
Family Information
