Ernie Osburn

Advisor: Dr. Karen Lips

Previous Education:
B.S. Ecology – University of Georgia
B.S. Biology – University of Georgia

Research Interests:
Amphibian populations are declining at an alarming rate, but little is known regarding the community and ecosystem level impacts of these declines. I plan on using quantitative, experimental, and modeling approaches to understand and predict ecological change in complex tropical communities after amphibian declines and extinctions.

Location of Research:
Central America

Publications:
Strickland, M.S., Osburn, E., Lauber, C., Fierer, N., Bradford, M.A. 2009. Litter quality is in the eye of the beholder: decomposition rates as a function of inoculum characteristics. Functional Ecology 23: 627-636.

Funding Sources:
Darwin Fellowship, BEES Program
Flagship Fellowship, University of Maryland Graduate School