Dr. Zachary Darnell
Associate Professor
Bio
Dr. Zachary Darnell’s research focuses on plastic and adaptive behavioral responses to environmental stressors, in the context of the physiology and life history of the organism. Behavior represents the most rapid and flexible response available to an organism challenged by an environmental stressor. We are interested in (1) the fitness consequences of behavioral flexibility, (2) the trade-offs associated with behavioral decisions and the modulation of trade-offs by abiotic and biotic factors, and (2) the physiological drivers of behavior. Our work also has a strong applied focus, using behavioral and physiological ecology to address questions related to conservation and management of marine species.
More information is available on Dr. Darnell's Google Scholar profile or
lab website.
- Ecology (PHD) - Duke University (2009)
Form and Function of Marine Organisms
Global Change Biology
Advanced Marine Ecology
Marine Animal Physiology
- Evidence for sperm limitation in the Louisiana blue crab spawning stock, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 2022
- Balancing risk and reward: mating opportunity influences thermal refuge use in fiddler crabs, Animal Behaviour, 2020
- Frequency and latency of autotomy of a sexually selected fiddler crab appendage, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 2020, 10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151255
- Thermal and desiccation constraints drive territory preference in fiddler crabs, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 2019, 10.1016/j.jembe.2019.05.013
- Elevated temperature induces a decrease in intermolt period and growth per molt in the lesser blue crab Callinectes similis Williams, 1966 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Portunidae), Journal of Crustacean Biology, 2019, 10.1093/jcbiol/ruy089