Victoria Schmalhofer, Ph.D.
Assistant Director of CEES
Assistant Director of CEES
Restoration Ecology. The Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES) has initiated many projects designed to restore degraded habitats to a more natural configuration. As the Center's Assistant Director, I have assumed oversight of the Lilly ARBOR - a riparian forest restoration project initiated twenty-plus years ago with the planting of 1342 saplings (representing twelve species) along an 8 acre section of the White River adjacent to campus (If you've ever wondered, ARBOR is an acronym: answers for restoring the banks of our river). My students and I are investigating the development of the young forest, including survival and reproduction of the original trees, recruitment of new individuals to the site, and beaver impacts.
Biodiversity. I am involved in a long-term study investigating declines in abundance and diversity of litter arthropods; ground-dwelling spiders are the focal taxon of this investigation.
Physiological & Community Ecology. I study predator-prey-plant interactions with a focus on the dynamics of pollination-based systems. Using flower-dwelling spiders as my focal predators, I have examined how flowers affect predator-prey dynamics (bottom-up impacts) and how predator presence affects reproduction in host plants (top-down effects). Because the abiotic environment sets the stage on which ecological plays are enacted, I have also examined impacts of abiotic factors, such as temperature and wind speed, on spider-insect interactions.
Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR). I am interested in encouraging science literacy, community engagement in science, and environmental stewardship through PPSR (also known as citizen science or community science).
Teaching
I have taught a variety of courses at other institutions, including Invertebrate Zoology, Ecology, Environmental Biology, Introductory Biology (I and II), Introductory Ecology & Evolution, Limnology, and Biology of Spiders. I currently teach Service Learning in Geology (G-199), Wetland Ecosystems (G-431), and guide Senior Capstone research (G-495).
Ph.D., Ecology & Evolution, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 1996
B.S., Biological Sciences, Wright State University, 1990
Schmalhofer VR. 2011. Impacts of temperature, hunger, and reproductive condition on metabolic rates of flower-dwelling crab spiders (Araneae, Thomisidae). Journal of Arachnology 39: 41-52.
Schmalhofer VR. 2001. Tritrophic interactions in a pollination system: impacts of species composition and size of flower patches on the hunting success of a flower-dwelling spider. Oecologia 129: 292-303.
Schmalhofer VR. 2000. Diet-induced and morphological color changes in juvenile crab spiders (Araneae, Thomisidae). Journal of Arachnology 28: 56-60.
Schmalhofer VR and Casey TM. 1999. Crab spider hunting performance is temperature insensitive. Ecological Entomology 24: 345-353.
Schmalhofer VR. 1999. Thermal tolerances and preferences of the crab spiders Misumenops asperatus and Misumenoides formosipes (Araneae, Thomisidae). Journal of Arachnology 27: 470-480.
Robinson GR, Handel SN, and Schmalhofer VR. 1992. Survival, reproduction, and recruitment of woody plants after fourteen years on a reforested landfill. Environmental Management 16: 265-271.
Schmalhofer VR, Amon JP, and Runkle JR. 1992. The vascular flora of a transect across the Beaver Creek Wetlands, Greene County, Ohio. Ohio Journal of Science 92: 14-24.
Other Products
Schmalhofer VR. "Common Winter Birds of Central Indiana: Birds of Forests and Forest Edges." Center for Earth and Environmental Science, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, February 2021 (revised February 2023), https://cees.indianapolis.iu.edu/doc/common-winter-birds-of-central-indiana-2023.pdf.
Schmalhofer V. "17 year cidadas are back." Center for Earth and Environmental Science, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 21 June 2021, https://blogs.iu.edu/cees/2021/06/21/17-year-cicadas-are-back/#more-1015
Schmalhofer V. "Incorporating charismatic megafauna in the classroom." Center for Earth and Environmental Science, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 8 May 2020, https://blogs.iu.edu/cees/2020/05/08/incorporating-charismatic-megafauna-in-the-classroom/#more-996
Schmalhofer V. "Public participation in scientific research." Center for Earth and Environmental Science, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 6 June 2019, https://blogs.iu.edu/cees/2019/06/06/public-participation-in-scientific-research/#more-900
Schmalhofer V. "Why birds matter." Center for Earth and Environmental Science, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 11 February 2018, https://blogs.iu.edu/cees/2018/02/11/why-birds-matter/#more-755
Ecological Society of America
American Arachnological Society
Entomological Society of America