Varun Swamy

Office Phone: 919-218-8935

Email: vs12@duke.edu

Advisor: Terborgh

Web page: http://www.duke.edu/~vs12

Curriculum Vitae (.pdf) >

Education:

• 2001-2007(expected) Ph.D., Nicholas School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University
  
• 2005-Ecology of Amazonian Ecosystems, Peru* (5 weeks)
• 2004- Tropical Plant Systematics, Costa Rica* (7 weeks)
• 1997-2001- B.A., Environmental Studies, magna cum laude
  Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut USA.
     
  * field-based intensive courses taught by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS).

Current Research Interests
Tropical rainforest ecology, plant-animal interactions, tree recruitment, effects of hunting-induced animal extinctions on plant regeneration.

Publications

Terborgh, J.,  G. Nuñez-Ituri, N. Pitman, F.H. Cornejo Valverde, P. Alvarez, V. Swamy, B. Pringle, C. E.T. Paine (in review 2007). Tree recruitment in an empty forest. Ecology.

Swamy, V., P.E. Fell, M. Body, M.B. Keaney, M.K. Nyaku, E.C. McIlvain, A.L. Keen. 2002. Macroinvertebrates and fish populations in a restored impounded salt marsh 21 years after the re-establishment of tidal flooding.Environmental Management 29(4): 516-530.

Warren, R. S., P. E. Fell, R. Rozsa, A. H. Brawley, A. C. Orsted, E. T. Olson, V. Swamy, W. A. Niering. 2002. Salt marsh restoration in Connecticut: 20 years of science and management. Restoration Ecology 10(3): 497-513.

Research Grants

• 2007- Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research, American Philosophical Society
• 2006, 2005- Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) Graduate Research Grant
• 2006-Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research Award
• 2004-Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) Graduate Research Fellowship
• 2006, 2003-04 - Duke University Graduate School Research Travel Grant
• 2006, 2002-04 - Mellon Research Travel Grant, Duke University Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
• 1999-Mellon Science Foundation Grant for Undergraduate Research

Honors and Awards

• Rankin Award for Best Undergraduate Student Presentation, New England
• Estuarine Research Society (NEERS) conference, Portland, Maine.

Research Experience

2003-present-Role of biotic factors in spatial organization and maintenance of diversity in lowland neotropical rainforest tree communities.

• Research includes a conservation emphasis that explores the effects of absence of key mammals on the regeneration of the plant community, through the comparison of pristine vs. hunted field sites.
• Research sites include Estación Biológica Cocha Cashu (EBCC) in Manu National Park and Los Amigos Biological Station, both in Madre de Dios, Peru.

2002-Pollination ecology in a fragmented ecosystem

• Examined the direct and indirect impacts of habitat fragmentation on plant-pollinator interactions in Bolivar State, Venezuela with a focus on plant reproductive success, inferred though data collected on pollination frequency, fruit set and seed set.

1999-2001- Salt Marsh Restoration

• Examined restoration of invertebrate and fish populations on formerly impounded salt marshes in Barn Island Wildlife Management Area, Stonington, CT, USA.
  

Teaching Experience

• 2007-Course Instructor, ENV 298.77: Topics in Tropical Forest Ecology and Conservation, Spring 2007, Duke University.
• 2002-06 - Teaching Assistant, ENV 217: Tropical Ecology (course taught by Dr. John Terborgh), Duke University (4 semesters).

Related Experience

• 2000 - Research Intern, Center for Science and Environment, New Delhi, India.
• Conducted fieldwork in the Himalayan foothills of Uttaranchal State, northern India.
• Submitted a detailed report for publication: "Ecological and socio-economic implications of the decline in traditional agroecosystems and agricultural biodiversity in Uttaranchal State, northern India"

Presentations at Scientific Meetings

Swamy, V. 2007. Pervasive distance effects (and not conspecific density per se) control early-stage tree recruitment in an Amazonian rainforest. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), San Jose, California. (Oral presentation)

Swamy, V. and J. Terborgh. 2007. Community-level distance effects are pervasive through multiple stages of tree recruitment in an Amazonian rainforest. Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) conference, Morelia, Mexico. (Oral presentation)

Swamy, V. and J. Terborgh. 2005. From fruit to sapling: constructing an integrated picture of tropical tree recruitment. Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) conference, Uberlandia, Brazil. (Oral presentation)

Swamy, V. and P.E. Fell. 2000. Macroinvertebrates and fish populations in a restored impounded salt marsh 21 years after the re-establishment of tidal flooding. New England Estuarine Research Society (NEERS) Spring Conference, Portland, Maine. (Oral presentation)

Invited Talks and Seminars

May 9, 2006. Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Invited by Dr. Justin Brashares.

May 11, 2006. Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, CA. Invited by Dr. Rodolfo Dirzo.

November 1, 2006. Working Group on the Environment in Latin America and the Pan-Amazon, Duke University–University of North Carolina Program in Latin American Studies.

Software Applications

ESRI ArcGIS 9.1, S-Plus 7.0, PC-Ord 4.1, WinClada, HemiView 2.1, R 2.4.1

Languages

English (native), Spanish (fluent in reading, writing, conversation), Portuguese (basic), Hindi (basic), Tamil (native).