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Office Hours:
Spring 2008:
Mondays: 1:30-3:00pm;
Wednesdays: 1:00-2:30pm;
Thursdays: 10:00-11:30am
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Helen Young
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Biology Department Chair
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McCardell Bicentennial Hall 371
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Phone: 802.443.2556
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Email: hjyoung@middlebury.edu
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Degrees, Specializations & Interests:
Degrees:
B.S. with Honors Washington University 1977
Ph.D. SUNY Stony Brook 1986 (Ecology and Evolution)
Specialization: Plant Reproductive Biology
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Current Research:
I am interested in floral variation and the ecology and evolution of differences among plants in their flowers. I have concentrated on plant-pollinator interactions to examine how floral traits affect pollinator behavior, which, in turn, influence plant reproductive success. In Vermont, I have worked extensively with jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and its pollinators. This system is also characterized by nectar-robbers (bees that remove nectar from flowers without pollinating them), which has led to my investigating the causes and consequences of robbing. In addition, I have started a project examining the effect of habitat fragmentation on bumblebee pollinators in Addison County. In this project, I am examining what features of the landscape are associated with bumblebee abundance with an eye toward conservation of these landscape features to maintain healthy and diverse pollinator communities.
Recent and Important Publications: Young, H.J., K. VonHasseln*, and D. Dunning*. (submitted). A comparison of honeybees and bumblebees as pollinators: “the good, the bad, and the ugly” revisited.
Young, H.J. (submitted) Antagonism and mutualism in the pollination biology of Impatiens capensis.
Pelz, K.* and H.J. Young. (submitted). The effect of habitat fragmentation on pollinator communities.
Young, H.J. and T.P. Young. 2003. A hands-on exercise to demonstrate evolution by natural selection and genetic drift. American Biology Teacher 65(6): 458-462.
Young, H.J. and L. Gravitz*. 2002. The effects of stigmatic age on receptivity in Silene latifolia (Caryophyllaceae). American Journal of Botany 89(8): 1237-1241.
Recent Grants:
2003 Vermont Genetics Network
2002-2004 NSF-MRI/RUI grant.
2000-2003 NSF-CCLI
2000-2004 NSF-POWRE
2000 VT-EPSCoR grant