Patina K. Mendez

mende092@umn.edu

B.S. University of Texas at Austin
Zoology 1999

B.A. University of Texas at Austin
Studio Art 1999

Ph. D. University of California, Berkeley
Environmental Science, Policy, & Management 2007

I have been interested in insects ever since my first entomology course in college. From day one, I was a in love with anything with six legs (even Texas cockroaches).

In my graduate studies, I explored topics in life history ecology ranging from detailed studies of the life history of a species of caddisfly in two different streams, to using life history characters of benthic communities to study natural gradients in physical habitats, to studies in the evolution of life history characteristics in caddiflies.

My research at the University of Minnesota focuses on working to understand the linkages between ecology and evolution, specifically, I am studing body size characteristics of the species in the caddislfy family Uenoidae in both a comparative phylogenetic framework that considers the evolutionary history of the family, as well as an ecological framework that considers the physical habitat of the organism. In addition to this study I am also continuing my work in applied ecology using life history characters to describe benthic communities, revisionary systematics of caddisflies, and general life history. I also have a special interest building web technology tools for fostering collaboration in communities of taxonomists and systemetists.

PUBLICATIONS

Mendez, P. K. and V. H. Resh. In press. Life history of the caddisfly Neophylax rickeri (Trichoptera: Uenoidae) in two northern California streams. Annals of the Entomological Society of America.

Mendez, P. K. and V. H. Resh. 2007. What aspects of the life history of Trichoptera have been studied? Pgs. 191-195 in Bueno-Soria, J. R. and B. Armitage (Editors), Proceedings of the XII International Symposium on Trichoptera, June 18-22, 2006. The Caddis Press.

Mendez, P. K., J. R. Wood, and V. H. Resh. 2007. Emergence, fluctuating sex ratios, and protandry in Neophylax rickeri (Trichoptera: Uenoidae). Pgs. 197-202 in Bueno-Soria, J. R. and B. Armitage (Editors), Proceedings of the XII International Symposium on Trichoptera, June 18-22, 2006. The Caddis Press.

Chen, G., I. Dubrowsky, P. Mendez, B. Iverson, and G. Georgiou. 1999. In vitro scanning saturation mutagenesis of all the specificity determining residues in an antibody binding site. Protein Engineering 12: 349-356.

CURRICULUM VITAE

PROJECTS

Systematics of Oligophlebodes (Trichoptera:Uenoidae) Ulmer 1905
Linkages between habitat and phylogeny in the caddisfly family Uenoidae
Longitudinal zonation of biological traits of benthic macroinvertebrates
Biomonitoring using biological traits of benthic macroinvertebrates
The influence of phylogeny on the life history traits of Trichoptera

Send comments on this web site to holze001@umn.edu

mende092@umn.edu B.S. University of Texas at Austin Zoology 1999 B.A. University of Texas at Austin Studio Art 1999 Ph. D. University of California, Berkeley Environmental Science, Policy, & Management 2007 I have been interested in insects ever since my first entomology course in college. From day one, I was a in love with anything with six legs (even Texas cockroaches).




In my graduate studies, I explored topics in life history ecology ranging from detailed studies of the life history of a species of caddisfly in two different streams, to using life history characters of benthic communities to study natural gradients in physical habitats, to studies in the evolution of life history characteristics in caddiflies. My research at the University of Minnesota focuses on working to understand the linkages between ecology and evolution, specifically, I am studing body size characteristics of the species in the caddislfy family Uenoidae in both a comparative phylogenetic framework that considers the evolutionary history of the family, as well as an ecological framework that considers the physical habitat of the organism. In addition to this study I am also continuing my work in applied ecology using life history characters to describe benthic communities, revisionary systematics of caddisflies, and general life history. I also have a special interest building web technology tools for fostering collaboration in communities of taxonomists and systemetists.