[{"content":"Welcome! Here you will find information about the Terry Lab in the Department of Integrative Biology at Oregon State University. You can learn about who we are, what we\u0026rsquo;re up to, and how to join us. We are interested in the temporal and spatial responses of terrestrial communities to changes in climate and anthropogenic land-use over modern, historical, and paleontological time-scales. Our research integrates the perspectives, tools, and data archives of biology and geology to investigate the structure and dynamics of modern, historical and ancient populations and communities. We also focus on how geological records of ecological information form. Our multi-disciplinary approach is motivated by the need to better understand and predict the future fates of species and ecosystems in our rapidly changing world.\nResearch interests include: Conservation Paleobiology, Paleoecology, Historical Ecology, Community and Functional Ecology, Evolutionary Ecology, Mammalogy, Taphonomy, and Climate Change.\n","date":"September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"page"},{"content":" Photo Galleries Alvord/Steens Fieldwork 2019–21 NARLEE Trip 2019 Lab News Archive ","date":"September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/news/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"news"},{"content":"Congratulations Dr. Mike Brawner! Mike successfully defended his dissertation on Sept. 20th. The title of his thesis is: \u0026ldquo;Context and scale mediate the impact of climate on a widespread avian predator.\u0026rdquo; Well done, Mike. We are so proud of you!\n","date":"September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/news/2021-09-brawner-defense/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Mike Brawner Successfully Defends Dissertation","type":"news"},{"content":"Recent grad David Taylor\u0026rsquo;s dissertation chapter on the effects of formalin on stable isotope signals in the hair of museum specimens was accepted for publication in the Journal of Mammalogy. Congrats, David!\n","date":"September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/news/2021-09-taylor-publication/","section":"","summary":"","title":"David Taylor Paper Published in Journal of Mammalogy","type":"news"},{"content":"Check out PhD candidate Jesse Laney\u0026rsquo;s recent paper with collaborators from the Robinson Lab on the effect of rare birds on birdwatcher behavior. This exciting work has been highlighted in a bunch of recent media outlets.\n","date":"March 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/news/2021-03-laney-paper/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Jesse Laney Paper Published in PeerJ","type":"news"},{"content":"Welcome Alyssa Semerdjian! Alyssa is a new PhD student in the lab who previously completed her MS at Humboldt State. We\u0026rsquo;re thrilled to have her join us!\n","date":"September 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/news/2020-09-alyssa-joins/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Welcome Alyssa Semerdjian!","type":"news"},{"content":" Mentoring Philosophy Thank you for your interest in joining our research group! My primary objective in training young scientists is to help my students become creative and critical thinkers, eager to ask innovative questions about the natural world. I strive to promote the excitement of discovery while simultaneously helping students develop confidence in themselves as scientists and professionals, and an appreciation for the diversity of their peers. I work closely with my students — guiding, advising, encouraging, and commiserating along the way — but believe that students must have a strong personal investment in the questions they are pursuing. I thus expect my graduate students at the PhD level to develop and own their research projects. While my research is primarily focused on small mammals, a focus on small mammals is not necessary to join the lab!\nGraduate Students If you are interested in applying to OSU\u0026rsquo;s Integrative Biology Department to work with me, please send me an email with the following information. Your answers are helpful to me in determining whether I would be an appropriate advisor for you.\nDescription of your past academic, work, and/or research experience. Type of research questions you would like to address in graduate school. Why you want to do a Masters or PhD and your ultimate career goals. Why you are interested in working with me. Your current CV/resume (as an attachment). The deadline for application to OSU is December 15th. Information on applying can be found here. Student support at OSU is typically provided through TA and RA-ships. I also strongly encourage all graduate students to apply for external funding through the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program either prior to arrival or during their first year at OSU.\nPostdoctoral Researchers Please contact me directly to inquire about postdoctoral opportunities that may be available in my lab.\nUndergraduates I love involving motivated undergraduates in our lab! We usually have opportunities through honors research projects, work-study positions, and on a volunteer basis. Please send me an email to inquire about the possibilities.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/join-us/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"page"},{"content":"Engagement with the community is a priority in the Terry Lab — not only is it fun and rewarding, it is essential to changing the perception of who is a scientist and sparking the interest and participation of people of all ages via opportunities for direct hands-on experience. See below to learn about the types of outreach we do.\nFinding Lake Chewaucan In collaboration with Meaghan Emery-Wetherell (University of Arizona), our current NSF grant is supporting development of an educational video game featuring the paleontological, archeological, geological and ecological studies of the Chewaucan basin that allows players to travel back in time to view and explore the basin at different periods of time. The extremely, extremely alpha version of the video game can be downloaded here. It is a 3D explorer where you learn about the past through minigames that replicate scientific processes. Currently this includes looking around and then identifying some bones using a somewhat hilariously difficult minigame — good luck!\nPelletMap Project Owls, hawks, eagles, and falcons regurgitate pellets (hairballs) packed with the bones, claws, and teeth of their small mammal meals. We are collaborating with elementary age kids (a.k.a. partner scientists) across Oregon via OSU\u0026rsquo;s SMILE program to pick apart pellets as part of our PelletMap Project. Our partner scientists get to learn about terrestrial ecology, bones, and document what species are found where, while we get to use the specimens and data contained in the pellets in our research!\nOf Mice and Meadows Museum Exhibit, Natural History Museum of Utah In collaboration with Rebecca Rowe (University of New Hampshire) and Rebecca Menlove (Natural History Museum of Utah), we helped create a multimedia museum exhibit linking climate change, land use, altered habitat conditions, food availability, competition, and range shifts over time in the Great Basin. Next time you\u0026rsquo;re in Salt Lake City, go check it out! Or visit the NHMU exhibit page for a virtual peek.\nCommunity Engagement In an effort to engage the greater community with our research and to promote scientific education, conservation and engagement, we have partnered with: Oregon State University\u0026rsquo;s Discovery Days, the Integrative Biology Department\u0026rsquo;s Open House, the Academy for Life-Long Learning in Corvallis, the Benton County Public Library, the Fish, Wildlife, \u0026amp; Conservation Sciences Department\u0026rsquo;s Wild About Wildlife program, as well as schools around Oregon. There is never a dull moment!\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/outreach/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"page"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/people/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"people"},{"content":"Bold denotes Terry Lab member (postdoc*, graduate student**, undergraduate***)\n~ 2022 ~\nTerry, R.C., E.B. Davis, and M.M. Emery-Wetherell. Chapter 13 - Small Mammal Paleontology of the Paisley Caves. Chapter in review for upcoming book on the Paisley Caves, D.L. Jenkins, ed. University of Utah Press. (In Review) ~ 2021 ~\nTaylor, D.S.**, E. DeJesus***, M. Novak, and R.C. Terry. 2021. The effects of formalin fixation and fluid storage on stable isotopes in rodent hair. Journal of Mammalogy 1635:1647. doi: 10.1093/jmammal/gyab102 ~ 2020 ~\nPardi, M., R.C. Terry, E.A. Rickart, and R.J. Rowe. 2020. Testing climate tracking of montane rodent distributions over the past century within the Great Basin ecoregion. Global Ecology and Conservation 24: e01238. doi: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01238\nSmiley, T.M.*, P.O. Title, M.L. Zelditch, and R.C. Terry. 2020. Multi-dimensional biodiversity hotspots and the future of taxonomic, ecological and phylogenetic diversity: A case study of North American rodents. Global Ecology and Biogeography 29: 516-533. doi: 10.1111/geb.13050\n~ 2018 ~\nTerry, R.C., J.A. Laney**, and S.H. Hay-Roe***. 2018. Quantifying the digestive fingerprints of predators on the bones of their prey using scanning electron microscopy. Palaios 33: 487-497. (Cover article, winner of the 2020 Outstanding Paper in Palaios award (Oct. 2020), research highlighted in April 2019 issue of Scientific American).\nKohli, B.A., R.C. Terry, and R.J. Rowe. 2018. A trait-based approach for discerning drivers of species co-occurrence across heterogeneous landscapes. Ecography 41: 1-13. (Paper selected by Ecography as their Editor\u0026rsquo;s Choice for the month of December).\nTanis, B.P.**, L.R.G. DeSantis, and R.C. Terry. 2018. Dental microwear textures across the dental arcade in canids: implications for dietary studies of extant and extinct caniforms. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 508: 129-138.\n~ 2017 ~\nTerry, R.C. 2017. Isotopic niche variation from the Holocene to today reveals minimal partitioning and individualistic dynamics among four sympatric desert mice. Journal of Animal Ecology. 87: 173-186. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12771\nTerry, R.C., M.E. Guerre***, and D.S. Taylor. 2017. How specialized is a diet specialist? Niche flexibility and local persistence through time of the Chisel-toothed Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys microps). Functional Ecology 31: 1921-1932.\nBadgley, C., T.M. Smiley*, R.C. Terry (+14 alphabetical co-authors after Terry). 2017. Biodiversity and topographic complexity: modern and geo historical perspectives. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 32(3): 211-226. (Cover article).\nSmiley, T.M.* and R.C. Terry. 2017. Paleoecology: Methods. The Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. John Wiley \u0026amp; Sons, Ltd., Chichester.\n~ 2016 ~\nLyons, S.K., et al. (27 authors including R.C. Terry). 2016. Reply to How foreign is the past? Nature 538. doi: 10.1038/nature20097\nLyons, S.K., et al. (27 authors including R.C. Terry). 2016. Reply to Questioning Holocene community shifts. Nature 537. doi: 10.1038/nature19111\nLyons, S.K., et al. (28 authors including R.C. Terry). 2016. Holocene shifts in the assembly of plant and animal communities implicate human impacts. Nature 529: 80-83.\n~ 2015 ~\nTerry, R.C. and R.J. Rowe. 2015. Energy flow and functional compensation in Great Basin small mammals under natural and anthropogenic environmental change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 112: 9656-9661. (Paper highlighted by multiple news media outlets (ScienceNews, NatureNews, NPR\u0026rsquo;s Science Friday), and highlighted by a commentary in PNAS written by J. Betancourt).\nTerry, R.C. and M. Novak. 2015. Where does time go: mixing and the depth-dependent distribution of fossil ages. Geology 43: 487-490.\n~ 2014 ~\nRowe, R.J. and R.C. Terry. 2014. Small mammal responses to environmental change: integrating past and present dynamics. Journal of Mammalogy 95: 1157-1174.\nBlois, J.L., et al. (22 authors including R.C. Terry). 2014. A framework for evaluating the influence of climate, dispersal limitation, and biotic interactions using fossil pollen associations across the late Quaternary. Ecography 37: 1095-1108.\n~ Prior to OSU ~\nTerry, R.C., C.L. Li, and E.A. Hadly. 2011. Predicting species responses to climatic warming: autecology, geographic range, and the Holocene fossil record. Global Change Biology 17: 3019-3034. (Highlighted by Science News, Oct. 2010).\nRowe, R.J., R.C. Terry, and E.A. Rickart. 2011. Environmental change and declining resource availability for small mammal communities in the Great Basin. Ecology 92: 1366-1375. (Cover Article, Editor\u0026rsquo;s Choice feature in Science Magazine).\nTerry, R.C. 2010. The dead don\u0026rsquo;t lie: using skeletal remains for rapid assessment of historical small mammal community baselines. Proc. Roy. Soc. B 277: 1193-1201.\nTerry, R.C. 2010. On raptors and rodents: testing the ecological fidelity of cave death-assemblages through live-dead analysis. Paleobiology 36: 137-160.\nTerry, R.C. 2009. Paleoecology: Methods. The Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. Chichester. doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0003274\nTerry, R.C. 2008. Modeling the effects of predation, prey cycling, and time-averaging on relative abundance in raptor-generated small-mammal death-assemblages. Palaios 23: 402-410. (Featured by BioOne, July 2008).\nTerry, R.C. 2007. Inferring predator identity from skeletal damage of small-mammal remains. Evolutionary Ecology Research 9: 199-219.\nTerry, R.C. 2004. Owl pellet taphonomy: a preliminary study of the post-regurgitation taphonomic history of pellets in a temperate forest. Palaios 19: 497-506.\nRogers, R.R., K.C. Rogers, D. Munyikwa, R.C. Terry, and B.S. Singer. 2004. Sedimentology and taphonomy of the upper Karoo-equivalent Mpandi Formation in the Tuli Basin of Zimbabwe, with a new 40AR/39AR age for the Tuli basalts. Journal of African Earth Sciences 40(3-4): 147-161.\nKowalewski, M., et al., (13 authors in alphabetical order including R.C. Terry). 2003. Quantitative fidelity of brachiopod-mollusk assemblages from modern subtidal environments of the San Juan Islands, USA. Journal of Taphonomy 1:43-65.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/publications/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"page"},{"content":"Understanding ecological responses to environmental change is a major challenge that can benefit greatly from looking to the past. Research in the Terry Lab focuses on two main themes within this broader challenge: (1) disentangling how abiotic and biotic factors structure ecological dynamics over expanded temporal and spatial scales, and (2) identifying what attributes make species and their communities more or less vulnerable to environmental change. To do this we apply techniques from both biology and geology to often overlooked archives of past ecological information: natural accumulations of skeletal remains that span paleontological to modern time-scales (\u0026ldquo;death-assemblages\u0026rdquo;), as well as data from historical accounts, natural history collections, and our own modern field surveys.\nTo date, our research focuses primarily on small mammals, raptors, and songbirds in western North America. We employ a variety of techniques in our research, including faunal and taphonomic analyses, functional and community-level ecological analyses, distribution mapping, isotope ecology, radiocarbon dating, geometric morphometrics, scanning electron microscopy, dental microwear texture analysis, and GIS. We welcome those interested in working in other systems and/or applying other approaches to the research themes outlined below as well, because there is nothing better than learning new things from each other!\nActive Research Areas Do the Dead Lie? Reliability of Ecological Data from Skeletal Remains To confidently interpret ecological information captured in death-assemblages, one must assess the magnitude and direction of ecological and taphonomic bias. We approach this question using a live-dead comparative approach coupled with taphonomic analyses of skeletal breakage patterns and microscopic damage to bone surfaces. Questions we are exploring include: how closely do death-assemblages reflect the composition and structure of the living community? Does the selectivity of predators (e.g. raptors) alter the ecological signal recorded in the remains of their prey? What types of predators were responsible for creating a given death-assemblage? To what degree are death-assemblages spatially and temporally averaged?\nThe Distribution of Diversity Across Gradients in Time and Space Striking patterns of species diversity can be seen across climatic, topographic, and geographic gradients today. Species diversity is also highly dynamic through time, responding to changes in environmental, ecological, and evolutionary pressures. Moreover, biodiversity is multidimensional, and taxonomic diversity is often not a one-for-one substitute for other biodiversity axes (e.g., ecological, functional, phylogenetic). Inferences gained from integrating across multiple spatial and temporal scales, as well as multiple axes of diversity, have the potential to increase our understanding of the origin and maintenance of biogeographic patterns, and can inform strategies for conservation. Questions we are exploring include: How has the intersection of landscape history, climate, biotic interactions, and human impacts shaped the distribution of diversity across space and time? How robust are the community properties of richness, evenness, biomass, and energy flow to underlying shifts in species composition? How do functional and phylogenetic diversity relate to community resiliency in the face of chronic and cumulative, or pulsed and ephemeral, perturbations?\nBiotic Responses to Environmental Change Environmental change pushes biotas to respond in multiple non-mutually exclusive ways. Species can shift their distributions to track their current niche, shift their niche to accommodate new conditions, or decline ultimately to extinction. Less clear are what traits shape species responses and the degree to which those traits are shared within and across phylogenetic groups. Questions we are exploring include: How does change in species occupancy through time across gradients in climate and elevation impact community composition, structure, and function? What role do changes in dietary niche breadth and morphology play in shaping the persistence of species over ecological and evolutionary time scales? To what degree are evolutionary or plastic sources of functional ecological variation coupled or independent? What factors increase or decrease the resilience of species to the myriad of natural and anthropogenic stressors they have experienced thus far and will face in the future?\nShifting Baselines in Terrestrial Systems Establishing pre-19th and 20th century dynamic baseline conditions for terrestrial systems is important for predicting how species and communities are likely to respond to future environmental change. It also helps us evaluate the degree to which historical anthropogenic impacts have pushed modern systems beyond their range of natural variability. We are interested in how populations, species, and communities have responded to past climate warming and human impacts at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, as compared to how responses to similar stressors are unfolding today. Questions we are exploring include: What is an appropriate baseline? What constitutes a non-analogue community? What species are currently at or beyond their historical baselines of environmental, behavioral, and/or morphological variation? Do different legacies of past land-use leave distinct traces in live-dead discordance? How has the introduction of invasive species (e.g. cheatgrass in the desert West) impacted resource use patterns, abundance dynamics, community composition, biotic interaction networks, and ecological function?\nTo learn more, please check out our publications and individual lab member\u0026rsquo;s webpages.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/research/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"page"},{"content":"We, the members of the Terry lab, are committed to fostering an open and inclusive environment built on trust in which to learn, share, work, and grow together. We celebrate the diversity we represent — recognizing that our different experiences, perspectives, talents, and knowledge, inspire each of us to grow as people, which in turn leads to better science and stronger community. We recognize the value of cultivating life outside the lab, creating space in which people can be their bona fide selves, the challenge of balancing work and life, and the importance of each lab member\u0026rsquo;s mental health. Together, we are more than the sum of our individual parts, and when we elevate others, we all rise. We commit to treating others with dignity and respect at all times, in person, online, in the lab, outside the lab, and in the far-flung places — the deserts and high alpine ridges — where we can be found learning about and reveling in the natural world. We value honesty, curiosity, communication, and making space for every voice.\nWe also acknowledge that our lab, and STEM in general, do not yet represent the diversity of society at large, nor do we fully understand the impacts of the history of our science on people and places. We recognize that our science suffers from this lack of inclusivity and perspective, thus we are committed to increasing representation of historically marginalized groups in science, making fieldwork safe and accessible for all, and educating ourselves about the history of our science and the history that has shaped the places where, and collections with which, we work. To this end, we are engaged as a lab in the following ongoing activities:\nIn our published works and presentations:\nAcknowledging the cultural history and significance of the collections we use and the places we work. In our lab:\nRecruiting and mentoring lab members at all stages from diverse backgrounds. Beyond our lab:\nImproving field safety and accessibility for all through the FieldSafe Initiative. Engaging youth from Oregon communities in science and the thrill of discovery through our PelletMap Project. Challenging perceptions of what a scientist looks like in our courses and outreach. ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/shared-values/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"page"},{"content":"Quality science education is critical to the development of thoughtful and responsible citizens in all walks of life. Our goals as educators in the Terry Lab are to promote the excitement of discovery among our students while developing skills for collaboration, problem solving, synthesis, and communication. This requires creatively weaving together lectures, small group work, inquiry-based hands-on assignments, field experience, assessment, and one-on-one support when needed. In addition, we are committed to involving students and the broader community in research, providing opportunities for direct field and laboratory experience.\nCurrent Courses Taught by Rebecca Paleobiology (BI 427/527)\nWe engage in a process-based study of the marine and terrestrial fossil record, exploring preservation, macroevolution, extinction, biomechanics, paleoecology, and climate change. Includes lecture, lab, and a field trip. Offered every spring.\nBiogeography (BI 481/581)\nWe focus on abiotic (geological, climatological) and biotic (ecological, evolutionary) factors that govern the distribution of diversity, emphasizing assembly of communities, global change, and conservation in today\u0026rsquo;s rapidly changing world. Includes lecture, computer-based activities, and discussion. Offered every other winter (odd years).\nEcology (BI 370)\nAn introduction to the scientific study of Ecology. Topics include the distribution of biodiversity across the globe, interactions between species and the climate system, processes regulating population growth, how species interact with one another, the impact of species extinctions and invasions on ecosystem services and function, and the varied and profound impacts of humans on ecological systems. Large lecture format. Taught every other fall (odd years).\nCourses Often TA-ed by Terry Lab Members BI 10X: Introductory Biology series for non-majors BI 22X: Introductory Biology series for majors BI 23X and 34X: Anatomy and Physiology courses Z 372: Vertebrate Biology Lab Z 422/522: Comparative/Functional Vertebrate Anatomy Lab ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/teaching/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"page"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"}]