9207 Southwestern University: Profile

Biology

Romi Burks

Associate Professor of Biology

Areas of expertise
Aquatic ecology, wetland science, apple snails, invertebrate biology

I am an aquatic ecologist interested in how organisms interact within and impact shallow lakes and ponds. My graduate work focused on looking at predator-avoidance behaviors in an important aquatic herbivore, Daphnia, that influences whether lakes exist in a clear or turbid state.

Since my arrival at Southwestern, my lab has been taken over (somewhat literally!) by an exotic, invasive apple snail, Pomacea insularum. We have been studying this snail for 5 years now and still have a lot to learn. Advances in the field have been happening faster than we can investigate. For the most recent work on invasive apple snails, I recommend this great new scientific blog (Snailbusters).

Receiving my Ph.D. in the lab of noted exotic species authority Dr. David Lodge at the University of Notre Dame has helped me switch my current research emphasis to questions associated with invasion biology. In particular, I collaborate with student researchers to investigate multiple aspects of basic life history of this new invader. In addition, the work has expanded to include an international collaboration in Uruguay where native apple snails occur.


Education

PhD, University of Notre Dame 2000
BS, Loyola University Chicago 1995
BA, Loyola University Chicago 1995

Positions

Assistant Professor of Biology
Southwestern University
August 01, 2003 - present

Paideia Professor
Southwestern University
August 01, 2009 - present

Chair of the Animal Behavior Program
Southwestern University
August 01, 2006 - present

Associate Professor of Biology
Southwestern University
August 01, 2009 - present

Teaching Philosophy

How I seek to "Engage Minds and Transform Lives" I teach because I never stopped being a student. My alma mater, Loyola University Chicago, recently adopted a new motto that states their dedication to preparing students to live extraordinary lives. Live beyond the ordinary. I have learned that the extraordinary aspect of living comes when we learn to function comfortably outside the norm, or ordinary. In The Courage to Teach, Education expert Parker Parmer writes of the courage necessary to take on this extraordinarily influential role of a teacher and states that students who learn are the finest fruits of teachers who teach. If I considered myself the fruit in that metaphor, I matured under close guidance of my professors. Now, I plant my own seeds, nourish them with 3 basic truths and watch them transform.
Truth 1: Teach who you are (Live the Teacher-Scholar Model) I place much faith in the practice of teach who you are. I am a planner, a scientist, an English major, a systematic individual, a lover of rubrics, an animal lover and a pretty creative thinker, although the dominance of these personalities changes depending on the task. I am also intense (students sometimes unfortunately mistake this for intimidating). I prefer the terms dedicated, direct and passionate. I believe in the learning process. Teaching who I am translates into genuine enthusiasm for teaching that students clearly recognize. I think this goes a long way toward being a successful long-term Southwestern faculty member. My undergraduate experience at a liberal arts university shaped the way I see connections between teaching and disciplines. By willing to experiment with innovative approaches, extraordinary things happen.
Truth 2: Make your classroom another lab (enhancing the Teacher half of the model) For me, part of engaging minds involves shifting the way students approach questions. I wear many different hats during any given day at Southwestern. However, my scientist hat feels permanently glued to my head and my approach to each class mirrors my scientific side. Through experimenting with different teaching strategies and pedagogies, I refine my approaches in small slices. Without frequent enough change, things get stale. Still, I try and resist changing too much at once. I try to see each class as a series of small-scale experiments. Somewhat literally, I hope that I routinely engage a lot of little wheels turning in the heads of my students when I stress that everything eventually connects to everything else and that the study of life does not occur in a vacuum but spans disciplines. Of the few hundred evaluations of Biodiversity, one in particular sticks in my mind. I don?t remember which year but one student wrote something like 'Dr. Burks ruined me. I cannot watch TV, go shopping or to the movies or even relax without finding examples of biology everywhere.' I do not know if the student meant that as a compliment but I take it as one.
Truth 3: Make your lab another classroom ? (enhancing the Scholar half of the model) My experience has taught me that the extraordinary happens through the process of teaching students the art of doing ecological research. In the beginning, I found it hard to recruit students early enough to invest in the long-term nature of research. I also found that snails are not necessarily as sexy to students as something medically-related like cancer. It takes my enthusiasm for the crazy critters or the word from one of the already ecologically-converted to convince some students otherwise. Students make up my lab community and I consider them real contributors to the research. The practice of guiding students through the complete scientific process (i.e. where outcome results in some type of publication) serves as the best evidence of my teaching effectiveness. I look for every opportunity to combine teaching and research. I do not consider them separate or opposing pursuits. I teach research methods and I research teaching methods.

Courses: Summer 2013

Writing About Science

Previous Courses

BIO50112 Biodiversity BIO50434 Invertebrate Ecology PSY33111 Introduction to Animal Behavior BIO50434 Ecology UST105 First Year Seminar: Multi-chocolated

Research

In addition to lab alumni and current students, collaborators on apple snail research include Mariana Meerhoff (email) and colleagues in Uruguay, Mark Kramer (email) at Armand Bayou Nature Center and Ken Hayes (email) and colleagues in Hawaii (for molecular IDs).

Our current research efforts focus on:

  1. Understanding oviposition behavior of invasive apple snails
  2. Estimating hatching efficiency of egg clutches and their role in population dynamics
  3. Investigating how predators of both eggs and hatchlings could interact with applesnails


Professional Work

Click here for a link to my curriculum vita, which can be found on my personal website.

Publications

* indicates undergraduate author.  PDFs can be found on Lab Website

2010

Burks, R. L., C. H. Kyle* and M. K. Trawick*. 2010. Pink Eggs and Snails: Field oviposition patterns indicate shallow aquatic systems susceptible to invasion by Pomacea insularum. Hydrobiologia, Shallow Lakes 2009 Special Volume 646: 243-251. DOI 10.1007/s10750-010-0167-1. PDF Available

EDITORIAL SUMMARY: Meerhoff, M., M. Beklioglu, R. Burks, F. Garcia-Rodriguez, N. Mazzeo and B. Moss. 2010. Shallow Lakes: Preface. Hydrobiologia DOI 10.1007/s10750-010-0247-2.

2009

Burks, R. L. and M. M. Chumchal.  2009. To co-author or not to co-author: How to write, publish, and negotiate issues of authorship with undergraduate research students. Sci. Signal. 2, tr3.

Kyle, C. H.,* M. K. Trawick,* J. P. McDonough* and R. L. Burks.  November 2009.  Population dynamics of an established reproducing population of the invasive apple snail (Pomacea insularum) in suburban southeast Houston, Texas.  Texas Journal of Science 61(4): 1-5.

      Burks, R. L. 2009. A Kernel of Truth: Microwave popcorn makes it easier to teach basic statistics. The L&O Bulletin 18(2): 36-40.

      2008

      Barnes, M.A.*, R. K. Marfurt*, J. Hand and R. L. Burks. 2008. Fecundity of the exotic applesnail, Pomacea insularum. The Journal of the North American Benthological Society 28(3): 738-745 (with color photo, available in September).

      Youens, A. K.* and R. L. Burks. 2008. Comparing applesnails with oranges: the need to standardize measuring techniques when studying Pomacea. Aquatic Ecology 42(4): 679-684. DOI: 10.1007/s10452-007-9140-0. PDF Available,

      Boland, B.*, M. Meerhoff, C. Fosalba, N. Mazzeo, M. Barnes* and R. L. Burks. 2008. Juvenile snails, adult appetites: Contrasting resource consumption between two species of applesnails (Pomacea). Journal of Molluscan Studies 74(1): 47-54. [DOI: 10.1093/mollus/eym045.] PDF Available.

      2007

      Burks, R. L. and L. Boles. 2007. Evolution of the Chocolate Bar: A creative approach to teaching phylogenetic relationships within evolutionary biology. The American Biology Teacher 69(4): 229-237.

      Burks, R. L. 2007. Math for Wiser Decisions (a review (invited by editor) of Rockwood Introduction to Population Ecology). BioScience 57(3): 288-289.

      2006

      Burks, R. L., G. Mulderij, E. Gross, I. Jones, L. Jacobsen, E. Van Donk, and E. Jeppesen. 2006. Chapter 3 - Center stage: The Crucial Role of Macrophytes in Regulating Trophic Interactions in Shallow Lake Wetlands. Pages 37-59 in R. Bobbink, B. Beltman, J. T. A. Verhoeven, and D. F. Whigham (eds) Wetlands: Functioning, Biodiversity Conservation, and Restoration. Ecological Studies, Volume 191, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

      R. G. Howells, L. E. Burlakova, A. Y. Karatayev, R K. Marfurt*, and R. L. Burks. 2006. Chapter 5 - Native and introduced Ampullaridae in North America: History, status and ecology. Pages 73-112 in R. C Joshi (ed) Global Advances in Ecology and Management of Golden Apple Snails. Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Philippines. PDF available.

      2005

      Linquester, G., R. L. Burks, and C. R. Jaslow. 2005. Developing Information fluency in introductory biology students inc the ontext of an investigative laboratory. Cell Biology Education 4: 58-96. PDF available.

      2004

      Tuchman, N. C., R. L. Burks, C. A. Call, and J. J. Smarrelli. 2004. Flow rate and vertical position influence ingestion rates of colonial zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha). Freshwater Biology 49: 191-198. (revisions completed at SU)

      2002

      Burks, R. L. and D. M. Lodge. 2002. Cued in: advances and opportunities in freshwater chemical ecology. Journal of Chemical Ecology 28(10): 1881- 1897.

      Burks, R. L., N. C. Tuchman, C. A. Call, and J. E. Marsden. 2002. Colonial aggregations: the effect of spatial position on zebra mussel responses to interstitial water quality. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 21(1): 64-75. PDF available.

      Burks, R. L., D. M. Lodge, E. Jeppesen and T. L. Lauridsen. 2002. Diel horizontal migration of zooplankton: costs and benefits of inhabiting littoral zones. Freshwater Biology 47: 343-366. PDF available.'

      2001

      Burks, R. L., E. Jeppesen and D. M. Lodge. 2001. Pelagic prey and benthic predators: impact of odonate predation on Daphnia among complex structure. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 20(4): 683-696. PDF available.

      Burks, R. L., E. Jeppesen and D. M. Lodge. 2001. Littoral zone structures as Daphnia refugia against fish predation. Limnology and Oceanography 46(2): 230-237. PDF available.

      2000

      Burks, R. L., E. Jeppesen and D. M. Lodge. 2000. Macrophyte and fish chemicals suppress Daphnia growth and alter life history traits. Oikos 88(1): 139-147. PDF available.

      1999

      Lauridsen, T. L., E. Jeppesen, S.F. Mitchell, D. M. Lodge and R. L. Burks. 1999. Horizontal distribution of zooplankton in lakes with contrasting fish densities and nutrient levels. Hydrobiologia 408/409: 241-250.



Honors & Awards

2009-2010:

  • Ph.D. Opponent, Lund University, Sweden
  • Section Chair, Ecologists at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions, Ecological Society of America
  • Texas Academy of Sciences President-Elect and 2011 Program Chair
  • Editorial Board, Freshwater Biology

2008-2009:

  • Invited participant, Vision and Change: Transforming Undergraduate Biology Education conference
  • Panelist for IRES, National Science Foundation (NFS)
  • Texas Academy of Sciences Fellow
  • Guest Editor, Hydrobiologia, 2008 Shallow Lakes Meeting
  • Selected as BEN (BioEdNet) Scholar, AAAS
  • Nominated for Outstanding Teaching Award SU

2006-2007:

  • Southwestern University Nomination for Piper Professor
  • Finalist for Brown Junior Investigator Award
  • Panelist for NSF DDIG Review in Ecology
  • Nominated for Outstanding Teaching Award, SU
  • Recognized for work with disability issues, SU

2004-2005:

  • ACS Environmental Fellow
  • ACS Technology Fellow
  • Invited participant (16 chosen from 70 applicants) for SEEK
  • Invited panelist for NSF Grant Review in Ecology

Before Southwestern:

  • DIALOG IV in Bermuda
  • Kaneb Center Graduate Award for Excellence in Teaching
  • Fulbright Scholar
  • Denmark Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year Award
  • 1995 Presidential Medal Recipient, Loyola University Chicago
  • 1993 Phi Beta Kappa


Interests

Two pseudochildren Bichons Twinkie & Cupcake, fiction reading, travel, chocolate

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