Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

3101VLSB, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160

  (510) 333-9006 

dlevitis@berkeley.edu   

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

My primary research centers on understanding the evolutionary basis for demographic traits. Current projects include:

1. An examination of behavioral and life history variables correlating with the evolution of sex-biased longevity, using existing data from 120 primate species.

2. A review of hypotheses regarding the evolutionary basis of infant mortality.

3. A life history evolution experiment with Rotifers, testing predictions of the Grandmother Hypothesis.

4. 4.A paper highlighting the lack of consensus on the meaning of the word behavior.
   

5. 5.Too many student generated projects to list here.
   

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

• Graduate Student Instructor:  IB144, Animal Behavior, UC Berkeley, Fall 2007

• Graduate Student Instructor: IBc82, Introduction to Oceans, UC Berkeley, Fall 2007

• Graduate Student Instructor, IB104, Natural History of the Vertebrates, UC Berkeley, Spring 2007

• GRE Trainer for Wildlife Conservation Society students Goroka, Papua New Guinea

Feb-Jun 2006

•Visiting Genetics Teacher, Mount Anthony Union High School, Bennington VT.

Fall 1997

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:

• Graduate Student Researcher, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA August 2003-Present.

• Research Assistant, Department of Demography, University of California, Berkeley, CA Jan 2004-Present.

• Visiting Researcher, Wildlife Conservation Society, Papua New Guinea program, Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, Jan-Jun 2006.

• Curatorial Assistant, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA August 2003-December 2003.

• Research Assistant, Hastings Natural History Reservation, University of California, Carmel Valley, CA July 2003.

•Visiting Researcher, Bronx Zoo, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY, June-October 2002.

•Research Assistant, Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, FL, March 2002.

•Ornithology Intern, Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, FL, January-May, 2000 and April-May 2002.

•Field Intern, California Condor Recovery Program, Ventura, CA, November 2001-February 2002.

•Field Assistant, Long Point Bird Observatory, Long Point, August-October, 2001.

•Research Volunteer, Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL, Jan-Feb 1999.

•Research Assistant, Bennington College, Bennington VT,  1998-1999.

EDUCATION:

•University of California, Berkeley, Department of Integrative Biology. PhD expected 2010. Course of study includes ornithology, behavioral ecology, molecular ecology, evolutionary demography and statistics.

•Bennington College, Bennington, VT. Bachelor of Arts with major in Biology, June, 1999.

GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS and AWARDS:

2005: National Geographic Society- $26,000

2005: AMNH Chapman Fund: $2,000

2005- Sigma Xi- $220

2005- American Ornithologist's Union- $1,800

2005- UC Berkeley In Candidacy Fee Offset Grant $3,081

2005: Cooper Ornithological Society- Student membership and $1,000

2005: Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology- $1,000

2004: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology Carl B. Koford Memorial Fund- $2,000

2003: American Ornithologists' Union Student Membership Grant

2002: US Fish and Wildlife Service Volunteer Monetary Award- $100

1995-1999: Bennington Scholarship- $16,000

PUBLICATIONS and PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS:

Sherman, E. and D. A. Levitis. 2003. Heat hardening as a function of developmental stage in larval and juvenile Bufo americanus and Xenopus laevis. Journal of Thermal Biology 28: 373-380.

Levitis, D. A. 2003. Response of Western Scrub-Jay populations to increasing human density. Presentation to the 121st Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, Urbana-Champaign, IL.

Sherman, E. and Levitis, D. 2001. Heat induced changes in thermal tolerance as a function of developmental stage in larval and juvenile Bufo americanus and Xenopus laevis. Presentation to the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists., University Park, PA.