CURRICULUM VITAE SACHA HENRY SPECTOR Center for Biodiversity and Conservation American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th St. New York, NY 10024-5192 Phone: (212) 313-7079 Fax: (212) 769-5277 E-mail: spector@amnh.org

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Conservation biology and community ecology of insect biodiversity, especially of scarabaeine dung beetles. Modeling and prediction of faunal distribution. Interactions between insect diversity and ecosystem function. Biogeography.

EDUCATION

University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut

• Ph.D. 2001 Dissertation title: Conserving Insects in the Tropics: Describing and Predicting Insect - Habitat Relationships from Local to Regional Scales Major advisor: Dr. Robert Colwell

Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

• B.S. 1993 Environmental Biology with an additional concentration in Environmental Studies. Senior thesis title: Relative Palatabilities of Several Species of Tropical Cockroaches to Predators

School For Field Studies, Centre For Rainforest Studies, North Queensland, Australia

• Spring 1992. Course work in natural resource management, tropical ecosystems and ecological anthropology. Independent research title: Abundance, Diversity, Species Richness and Spatial Heterogeneity of Nocturnal Flying Insects in Mature and Acacia Dominated Rainforests of North Queensland, Australia

WORK AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Manager, Invertebrate Conservation Program, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, 9/2000-present.

• Develop and manage new Invertebrate Conservation Program with component projects and initiatives. Includes establishing collaborative research projects focused on developing invertebrate focal taxa, organizing invertebrate conservation symposia, coordinating and leading a series of biodiversity surveys in the Eastern Andes of Bolivia. Manage invertebrate biodiversity laboratory at AMNH and a team of parataxonomist staff. Develop educational modules for Latin American students on invertebrate surveys, monitoring and conservation.

• Co-coordinated project to develop biodiversity conservation science capacity in Tropical Andean countries and to expand the role of insects in Conservation International's Rapid Assessment Program (RAP). Responsibilities included coordinating and leading field-based training workshops, managing the logistical aspects of conducting research and workshops in remote field sites, dealing with permitting agencies in five South American countries and the eventual management and study of the museum materials generated by the fieldwork.

• Contracted to assist Dr. Adrian Forsyth in all aspects of research focused on biodiversity and ecological gradients, with particular attention to insects and conservation biology.

• Assisted in the creation of a comprehensive hydrology curriculum designed for the education of The Nature Conservancy's national stewardship staff.

• Member of field research team developing conservation strategies and investigating the breeding biology of the Green Rumped Parrotlet, Forpus passerinus.

• Adjunct Assistant Professor/Adjunct Research Associate, Columbia University, Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, 2001 - present
• Chair, Terrestrial Invertebrate Red List Authority, World Conservation Union (IUCN) Species Survival Commission, 2006-present
• Chair, Dung Beetle Red List Authority, World Conservation Union (IUCN) Species Survival Commission, 2006-present
• Counselor, Board of Directors, Xerces Society, 2004 - present (became Secretary, 2006)
• Research Collaborator, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, 1995 - present
• Chairperson, Graduate Student Association of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 1998 - 1999

Columbia University, adjunct assistant professor. Undergraduate courses in Conservation Biology, 2001- 2007; Insect Ecology and Conservation, 2004.

University of Connecticut, teaching assistant. General Ecology, 1997; Foundations of Biology, 1998 (two semesters); Field Ecology, 1999.

SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES

Founder and chair of the Scarabaeinae Research Network, an international team of collaborating dung beetle systematists, ecologists, and conservationists. The network is dedicated to developing the informational and methodological tools needed to support the use of dung beetles as an invertebrate biodiversity focal taxon.

Scientific chair and lead organizer for international symposium at AMNH (March 2004) on invertebrate biodiversity conservation entitled, "Expanding the Ark: The Emerging Science and Practice of Invertebrate Conservation," that led to the formation of the Expanding the Ark Coalition, a network of over 40 researchers and conservationists dedicated to improving the representation of invertebrates in conservation practice

Assembled a network of over 60 collaborating vertebrate and invertebrate taxonomists and systematists to support biodiversity surveys in the Bolivian Andes in 2000-2003 that has curated thousands of specimens, including the description of many new taxa.

Developed, coordinated and ran field training courses in rapid biodiversity assessment for Latin American entomology students in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia (1994-1996).

Reviewer for: Biotropica, BP Conservation Programme, Conservation Biology, Diversity and Distributions, Environmental Entomology, Global Ecology and Biogeography, Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society, NASA Earth System Science Fellowship Panel (2003), National Science Foundation, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Southeastern Naturalist, Zootaxa

HONORS AND AWARDS

• NSF Grant #DEB-0443443: The Scarabaeinae Research Network: Coordinating the Development of an Invertebrate Focal Taxon ($500,000)
• NASA-AMNH Curator Grant: The Scarabaeinae Research Network ($25,800)
• NSF Grant #DEB-0132842: "SGER: Pilot Expedition for Multi-Taxa Biodiversity Surveys in the Bolivian Andes" ($45,000)
• NASA Graduate Student Research Program Fellowship, 1999-2001
• Doctoral Travel Award, 2001 (University of Connecticut)
• Center for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology Travel Award, 2000 (University of Connecticut, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology).
• Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Award, 1998 (University of Connecticut, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology).
• Bamford Fund Award, 1997 (University of Connecticut, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology).
• NSF Graduate Research Trainee, 1996 - 1997 (University of Connecticut).
• Mellon Foundation grant for undergraduate research, 1992 -1993 (Yale University).
• National Merit Scholar Finalist, 1989

Elizabeth Nichols, Columbia University, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology. Entered PhD program 2006, graduation expected 2011.
Kerry Brown. Columbia University, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology. Post doctoral advisee, 2005-2007.

PUBLICATIONS

Nichols, E., T. Larsen, S. Spector, F. Escobar, M. Favila, K. Vulinec, The Scarabaeinae Research Network. 2007. Global dung beetle response to tropical forest modification and fragmentation: a quantitative literature review and meta-analysis. Biological Conservation 137:1-19.

Nichols, E., T.A. Gardner, S. Spector, K. Bell, T.K. Philips, Peres, C.A. Declining large mammals and dung beetles: a case study of an impending ecological cascade. (submitted to Conservation Biology)

Brown, K. A. , S. Spector, W. Wu. Linking population and landscape ecology through biological invasions: species distribution and population modeling. (submitted to Conservation Biology)

Spector, S. 2006. Scarabaeine dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae): An invertebrate focal taxon for biodiversity research and conservation. Coleopterists' Bulletin 60 (5): 71-83 Suppl. S Dec 2006

Güven Eken, Leon Bennun, Thomas M. Brooks, Will Darwall, Lincoln D.C. Fishpool, Matt Foster, David Knox, Penny Langhammer, Paul Matiku, Elizabeth Radford, Paul Salaman, Wes Sechrest, Michael L. Smith, Sacha Spector, Andrew Tordoff. 2004. Key Biodiversity Areas as Site Conservation Targets. BioScience 54(12): 1110-1118

Spector, S., and S. Ayzama. 2003. Rapid Turnover and Edge Effects in Dung Beetle Assemblages (Scarabaeidae) at a Bolivian Neotropical Forest-Savanna Ecotone. Biotropica 35:394-404.

J. Hayden and S. Spector. 2003. Dung Beetles of northeastern North America: An Interactive Guide. http://pick1.pick.uga.edu/cgi-bin/20q?guide=Scarabaeidae

Turner, Woody, Sacha Spector, Ned Gardiner, Matthew Fladeland, Eleanor Sterling and Marc Steininger. 2003. Remote sensing for biodiversity science and conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18(6): 306-314.

Spector, S. 2002. Biogeographic crossroads: priority areas for biodiversity conservation. Conservation Biology 16 (6):1480-1487.

Spector, S. 2002. What Can We Do to Stem the Tide of the Sixth Extinction Event? In Life on Earth: An Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution. Eldridge, N., Ed. ABC-CLIO, Denver.

Sterling, E.J. and Spector, S. 2002. Conserving the foundations of life on Earth. CERC Notes Spring 2002:11, Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, Columbia University.

Spector, S. and A. B. Forsyth, 1998. Indicator taxa in the vanishing tropics. In Conservation in a Changing World. A. Balmford and G. Mace, Eds. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Forsyth, A. and S. Spector 1998. Dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) of Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado. In A Biological Assessment of Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado, Bolivia. Timothy J. Killeen and Thomas Shulenburg, Eds. RAP Working Papers 10, Conservation International, Washington DC.

Forsyth, A., S. Spector and B. Gill, 1997. The dung beetle (Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) assemblages of the Cordillera del Condor, Amazonas Province, Peru. In The Cordillera del Cóndor Region of Ecuador and Peru: A Biological Assessment. Thomas Schulenburg and Kim Awbrey, Eds. RAP Working Papers 7, Conservation International, Washington DC.

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

Spector, S. April 2005. Dung Beetle Conservation in the Amazon: Starting Local, Going Global. Presented at the University of Connecticut Center for Conservation and Biodiversity 10th anniversary celebration. Storrs, CT

Spector, S. March 2004. Are Invertebrate Focal Taxa Fulfilling Their Promise? Presented at Expanding the Ark: The Emerging Science and Practice of Invertebrate Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, New York

Spector, S. November 2002. Launching the Scarabaeinae Research Network. Presented at the SOLA Scarab Workers Symposium, annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Spector, S. January, 2002. Conserving Tropical Insect Communities at the Landscape Scale; The Promise of Vegetation Classifications and Remote Sensing Technology for Predicting the Distribution of Insect Communities. Presented at New York Entomological Society, New York, New York.

Spector, S. January, 2002. Conserving Tropical Insect Communities at the Landscape Scale; The Promise of Vegetation Classifications and Remote Sensing Technology for Predicting the Distribution of Insect Communities. Presented at Cambridge Entomological Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Spector, S. June 2001. Conserving Insects in the Tropics: Describing and Predicting Insect - Habitat Relationships from Local to Regional Scales. Presented at University of Connecticut, Storrs.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Nichols, E. and S. Spector. June 2006. Dung beetle response to tropical forest modification and fragmentation: a global review review and meta-analysis. Presented at annual meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, San Jose, California.

Spector, S. and P. Naskrecki. April 2005. The Global DragonFly and Damselfly Assessment. Poster presented at New Currents in Conserving Freshwater Systems, American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Spector, S. August 2004. Are Invertebrate Focal Taxa Fulfilling Their Promise? Presented at International Congress of Entomology, Brisbane, Australia

Spector, S. July 2004. Are Invertebrate Focal Taxa Fulfilling Their Promise? Presented at annual meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, New York, New York

Spector, S. August 2003. Launching the Scarabaeinae Research Network. Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, Duluth, Minnesota

Spector, S. August, 2001. Vegetation-Based Conservation of Insect Communities: A Test At Two Scales With Bolivian Dung Beetles. Oral presentation at annual meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, Hilo, Hawaii.

Spector, S. September 2000. Predicting the Distribution of Biodiversity: Integrating Field-Based Ecological Sampling and Remote Sensing Technology. Poster presentation at Graduate Student Research Program Symposium. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

Spector, S. June 2000. Putting Parks at Biogeographic Crossroads: Lessons from Bolivian Beetles. Oral presentation at annual meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology. Missoula, Montana.

Spector, S. March 2000. Putting Parks at Biogeographic Crossroads: Lessons from Bolivian Beetles. Oral presentation at annual Graduate Student Symposium, University of Connecticut

Spector, S., A. Forsyth and B. D. Gill, 1997. Radical faunal turnover in a tropical forest- savanna ecosystem. Oral presentation at annual meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and the Organization for Tropical Studies. San Jose, Costa Rica.

Spector, S. December 1995. Rapid Biodiversity Assessment of Invertebrates. Oral presentation at 2nd Congress of Latin American Scarabaeoideaologists, Bogota, Colombia