GRANT GENTRY
Tulane University
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
310 Dinwiddie Hall
New Orleans, LA 70118
Lab (504) 862-8289
Office (504) 247-1549
ggentry@tulane.edu
bungalotis@hotmail.com
 

Education:

Ph.D. University of California at Los Angeles, September 1998
B.A. Austin College, May 1989
 

Professional Experience:
Research

Senior Research Associate: Tulane University, I am studying whether introduced parasitoid
biological control agents of sugarcane borer are attacking non-target Crambidae in grasses
in Louisiana's natural areas.
 
Research Associate: University of Maryland with Dr. Pedro Barbosa. I studied morphological
characteristics of crop plants that increased the effectiveness of parasitoid wasps as biological
control agents. 2000-2003
 
Postdoctoral Fellow: Mesa State College with Dr. Lee Dyer. At the La Selva Biological Station,
Costa Rica: I studied the efficacies of lepidopteran larval defenses against parasitoids, with an
emphasis on chemical defenses derived from host plants.1998- 2000
 
Dissertation Research: University of California, Los Angeles. At the La Selva Biological
Station, Costa Rica: I investigated the possibility of insect/plant mutualisms between
parasitoid insects and an extrafloral nectary plant in the Solanaceae. 1994-1996
 
Teaching
  • Tulane University Fall 2004: General Ecology
  • Tulane University Spring 2004: Global Environmental Change 
  • University of Maryland 2003: Insect-Plant Interactions; Collaborated in the development
    and execution of the laboratory.
  • Organization for Tropical Studies 1999: Field problems for Tropical Ecology
  • Mesa State College Fall1999: Co-instructor for Insect Biology, and Tropical Ecosystems
  • Organization for Tropical Studies 1997: Field problems for Tropical Biodiversity
  • University of California:Los Angeles 1993-1996: Laboratory portions for several classes.

Other Skills:
  • Parasitic Hymenoptera Training Session XII 2002: Intensive course teaching
    identification skills for all common parasitic hymenoptera to family and subfamily.
  • Ten years of experience rearing, identifying, and curating larvae and adults of Lepidoptera,
    Hymenoptera, and Diptera.
  • Intermediate Spanish speaker
 
Grants/Awards Received:
  • NSF: Biotic Surveys and Inventories $180,000, with Dr. Lee Dyer and collaborators, 2004
  • J. Bennett Johnston Science Foundation $5000, 2003
  • Earthwatch Institute $145,000+, with Dr. Lee Dyer 1996-2001
  • National Geographic Society $20,000, with Dr. Lee Dyer 1996
  • OTS Tropical Fieldwork Fellowship $5000, 1995
  • UCLA Departmental and Interdepartmental Fellowships $12,000, 1994-1996
 
Associations/Affiliations:
Entomological Society of America
Ecological Society of America
 
Review Service:
Ecological Entomology, Environmental Entomology, Functional Ecology,
Journal of Insect Science
 
Publications:
  • Gentry, G. L. 2003. Parasitoid visitors to the extrafloral nectaries of Solanum adherens: is
    Solanum adherens an insectary plant?. Basic and Applied Ecology 4:405-411
 
  • Gentry, G. L. and L. Dyer 2002. On the conditional nature of neotropical caterpillar
    defenses against their natural enemies. Ecology 83:3108-3119
 
  • Gentry, G. L. and Dyer, L. Caterpillars of La Selva, Costa Rica. www.caterpillars.org
 
  • Dyer, L. and G. Gentry 1999. Predicting natural enemy responses to herbivores in
    natural and managed systems. Ecological Applications 9:402-408.
 
  • Dyer, L. A., Gentry, G. L., and Tobler, M.A. Fitness consequences of herbivory:
    impacts on asexual reproduction of tropical rainforest understory plants. Biotropica 36: 68-73
 
  • Dyer, L. A., Dodson, C. D., and Gentry, G. L. 2003 A bioassay for insect deterrent
    compounds found in plant and animal tissues. Phytochemical Analysis 14:381-388.
 
In Preparation:
Gentry, G. L.: Lack of mutualism between a scelionid egg parasitoid and Solanum
adherens (Solanales: Solanaceae); a neotropical extrafloral nectary plant.
In Revision for Natur wissenschaften
 
Gentry, G. L. and Barbosa P.: Effects of leaf epicuticular waxes on the foraging
efficiency of Diaretiella rapae (Braconidae: Aphidiinae) seraching for
Brevicoryne brassicae (Aphididiae) on cauliflower.
In Revision for Behavioural Ecology.
 
Gentry, G. L., Legrand, A. and Barbosa, P. B.: Morphological characters of Pisum
sativa differentially affect the foraging ability of predators and parasitoids searching for aphids.
In Preparation for Journal of Insect Science