LEE A. DYER
Professor, Biology Department
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89557
ldyer@unr.edu
EDUCATION
B.A. Biochemistry; B.A. English, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1983–1987
Ph.D. Ecology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1991–1994
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
Director, Ecology, Evolution, Conservation Biology Program, University of Nevada, Reno, 2013–2022. 78 faculty and 82 graduate students (in 2022).
Scientific Co-Director, Center for Chemical Ecology, University of Nevada, Reno, 2013–present. 20 faculty, approximately $1M annual budget, with collaborators in 12 countries across the Americas.
Founder and Director, Western Colorado Center for Tropical Research, 1995–2000.
RESEARCH
Current research program focused on tritrophic interactions, chemical ecology, biodiversity, tropical ecology, climate change, and conservation in natural and managed ecosystems.
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Santa Cruz, June 1994–September 1995.
MENTORING
Advised or trained 11 postdoctoral research associates, 42 graduate students, 45 undergraduates, 3 Costa Rican field technicians, 5 Ecuadorian field technicians, 1 Peruvian field researcher, 6 Brazilian field researchers, and 1 Argentinian field leader.
Postdoctoral research associates advised: Grant Gentry, John Stireman, Jim Miller, Cintia Lepesqueur, Tara Massad, Harold Greeney, Lora Richards, Oren Shelef, Andre Rangel, Geraldo Freire, Behanz Balmaki.
Graduate students advised (major advisor or co-advisor): Malia Fincher, Iris Rodden, Clark Pearson, Stephanie Short, John Carlson, Genoveva Rodríguez, Michael Olson, Kathleen Burke, Angela Smilanich, Tara Massad, Heidi Connahs, Mark Fox, Rebecca Hazen, Patricia Guambi Dahuas, Emilia Perez, Laura Braga, Ricardo Mattos, Geraldo Freire, Sheila Sherrer, Raiane Serejo, Vince Salerno, Pornsawan Poopat, Andrea Glassmire, Nick Pardikes, Jane Dell, Will Lumpkin, Heather Slinn, Diego Campos, Danielle Salcido, Chanchanock Sudta, Masoud Rostami, Santiago Villamarin, Ericka Kay, Lydia Doan, Tara Christensen, Jasy Trujillo, Chloe Collier, Abigail Jarrett, Joselyn Atuhairwe, Christian Conners, Cindy Flautero, Emily Brewer, Samantha Romines.
TEACHING
Professor, University of Nevada, Reno, July 2008–present (Associate Professor, July 2008–June 2010).
Professor, Tulane University, January 2001–June 2008 (Associate Professor, January 2001–January 2005).
Associate Professor, Mesa State College, August 1995–December 2000 (Assistant Professor, August 1995–January 2000; taught 19 different courses, 12 credits/semester).
Visiting Professor, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, August–December 1998.
Lecturer, University of California, Santa Cruz, February–June 1995.
TALKS
Invited seminars, colloquia, and symposia
Southwest Research Station, 2004; Oklahoma University, 2004; Indiana University, 2005; Organization for Tropical Studies, Costa Rica, 1997 and yearly 1999–2008; University of California Davis, 2005; Bodega Marine Laboratory, 2005; Mesa State College, 2005; Rice University, 2005; University of Kentucky, Graduate Student Select Lecture, 2005; Louisiana State University, 2005; University of Texas, Austin, 2006; University of Maryland, 2006; Wright State University, 2006; Southeastern Louisiana University, 2006; University of Missouri St. Louis, 2007; University of Nevada Reno, 2007; Southwest Research Station, 2008; Wesleyan University, 2008; CUNY Staten Island, 2008; University of Missouri Columbia, 2008; University of Illinois, 2009; Chico State, 2009; University of Brasilia, Brazil, 2009 (3 talks); University of Campinas, Brazil, 2009; Organization for Tropical Studies, 2010; Occidental University, 2010; UNR College of Science, Distinguished Faculty Lecture, 2010; Pittsburgh University, 2011; UC Davis, 2011; University of Washington, Graduate Student Select Lecture, 2011; University of California Berkeley, 2012; International Conference on Biodiversity, Guayaquil, Ecuador, keynote speaker, 2012; University of São Paulo, Brazil, 2012; Gordon Research Conference – Plant Herbivore Interactions, invited speaker, 2013; University of Georgia, Athens, Graduate Student Select Lecture, 2013; University of Brasilia, Brazil, 2014; ECOSUR, Mexico, 2014; University of Utah, 2015; University of Brasilia, Brazil, 2015; University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, 2015; University of Brasilia, Brazil, 2016; Tyson Research Center, Washington University, St. Louis, 2016; Texas A&M, 2017; UNICAMP, Brazil, 2018; USP, Brazil, 2018; MSU, 2018; Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Quito, Ecuador, 2019; Charles Darwin Center, Galapagos, 2019; University of Cincinnati, 2019; McGuire Butterfly Center, UFL, 2020; Earthwatch online symposium, 2020; Universidad Nacional Intercultural de la Selva Central Juan Santos Atahualpa online symposium, 2020; University of Guelph, 2021; University of Brasilia, 2021; University of Pittsburgh, 2021; Kent State University, 2022; Biblioteca Nacional, Quito, Ecuador, 2023; Centro de Ecología, Caracas, Venezuela, 2023; ELEN, Tena, Ecuador, 2024; Vaupes, Colombia, 2025; USP, Brazil, 2025.
Contributed papers and symposia
El I Congreso Colombiano de Lepidopterología, invited lecture, 2023
Ecological Society of America Annual Meetings, 1996–2010, 2013–2019, 2021–2024
Rocky Mountain Population Biologists Annual Meeting, 1999
Entomological Society of America Annual Meetings, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007–2019, 2021–2024
International Entomophagous Insects Meeting, 2003, 2016
International Caterpillar Biodiversity and Conservation Meeting, 2003
Association for Tropical Biology Annual Meetings, 2007, 2021, 2022
International Congress of Entomology, 2008, 2016, 2022
Gordon Research Conference, 2013 (lecture and posters)
European Lepidoptera Society, Keynote Lecture, 2015
International Insect–Plant Interactions Meeting, Tours, France, Plenary Lecture, 2017
OTHER SKILLS AND INTERESTS
Fluent in Spanish
Proficient in Portuguese and French
Expert technical rock climber with over 50 first ascents
Active in environmental and political issues; consultant for applied statistics; poet
REVIEW, EDITORIAL, AND PANEL SERVICE
Guest Editor, Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2023
Editor, Ecology, 2012–present
Editor, Frontiers in Chemical Ecology, 2022–present
Editor, Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 2008–2023
Editorial Board, Food Webs, 2014–2017
Editor, Biotropica, 2005–2010
National Institutes of Health, 2 panels; most recent panel, 2004
National Science Foundation, 10 panels; most recent panels, 2 in 2018
National Science Foundation, 112 proposals
United States Department of Agriculture, 1 panel
United States Department of Agriculture, 16 proposals
Czech Academy of Sciences, 5 proposals
DOE, 5 proposals
Reviewer for 28 journals, mean of 6 papers reviewed per journal
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Ecological Society of America, 1995–present
Entomological Society of America, 1999–present
Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, 1995–2008
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2014–present
AWARDS
1999 – Mesa State College Distinguished Faculty Award
2000 – Mesa County Colorado, Leader for the New Millennium Award
2002 – New Orleans 40 Under 40, young people making remarkable contributions locally and globally
2004 – University of Pittsburgh, Distinguished Ecologist Award
2005, 2011, 2013 – University of Kentucky, University of Washington, and University of Georgia, Graduate Student Select Speaker
2011 – University of Nevada, Hyung K. Shin Outstanding Research Award
2014 – University of Nevada, Foundation Professor
2023 – AAAS Fellow
GRANT/FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT
CNPQ, Brazil. Impactos da urbanização na montagem de comunidades e conservação da entomofauna no Cerrado brasileiro: uma abordagem multi-taxa envolvendo Inteligência Artificial. $250,000 (funds go to UnB). Awarded 06/01/2025; ends 05/30/2027. PI: Geraldo Freire; co-PIs: Dyer et al.
CNPQ and FAPESP, Brazil. INCT de Interações Bióticas. Approximately $4M (funds go to USP). Awarded 01/01/2025; ends 12/31/2028. PI: Massuo Kato; co-PIs: Dyer, Jeffrey, Richards, et al.
National Science Foundation (NSF), co-PI (M. Matocq, lead PI). NRT-URoL: Chemically-mediated biotic interactions in the age of metabolomics, genomics and enhanced macroecological data. $3M, 08/23–07/28.
NSF, co-PI (L. Richards, lead PI). Quantifying the phytochemical landscape through Indigenous Knowledge, interaction diversity, genomics, and network dynamics. $3M, 12/21–12/26.
USFS. An experimental and collaborative approach to fire research and management in Ecuador. $350K, 12/21–12/24.
NSF, EAGER. Quantifying Great Basin butterfly-pollen networks across spatial and temporal disturbance gradients. $280K, 03/21–02/23.
NSF, co-PI (M. Forister, lead PI). LTREB: Predicting the success of montane species in an era of climatic upheaval. $410K, 06/21–05/25.
NSF, co-PI (A.M. Smilanich, lead PI). Collaborative Research: Novel trophic interactions determined by phytochemistry, pathogen infection, and parasitoids. $1M combined budget, 08/19–07/22.
NSF and FAPESP (Brazilian funding agency), Dimensions of Biodiversity. $4M combined budgets, 11/14–10/19.
NSF, Dissertation Improvement Grant (A. Glassmire), $19K.
Department of Defense (SERDP), Biodiversity. Approximately $2.4M (J. O’Brien, lead PI), 04/12–03/17.
NSF, Systematics. Approximately $400K (A. Smilanich, lead PI), 01/12–12/14.
NSF, Biotic Surveys and Inventories (BSI), collaborative budget. Approximately $1.2M, 09/10–08/13.
NSF, Chemistry. $298K collaborative budget, 08/07–07/10.
NSF, BSI. Approximately $600K collaborative budget, 09/07–08/10.
Tulane University Research Enhancement. $85K, 05/07–06/08.
National Institute for Climate Change Research (NICCR). $1.3M, co-PI with Tornquist and Chambers, 06/07–05/12.
NSF, Ecology. $293K (D. Bowers, lead PI), 08/06–07/09.
NSF, Ecology (SGER). $60K, 02/06–02/07.
NSF, Dissertation Improvement, for graduate student M. Fincher. $10K, 05/05–05/07.
National Geographic. $25K, awarded directly to PI, 09/05–10/06.
NSF, BSI. $415K collaborative budget including supplements, 08/04–07/07.
NSF, Ecology. $345,000 collaborative budget including supplements, 05/04–04/07.
NICCR. $320,000 with supplements, 09/04–08/07.
USDA. $79,000, 09/02–05/05.
Louisiana BOR, equipment grant with T. Bianchi. $101,000, 01/02–01/05.
Louisiana BOR, graduate student fellowship grant with D. Heins. $80,000, 09/04–05/08.
NSF, Ecology. $183,000, 09/00–08/05.
OTS. $25,000, 10/98, 06/03, 06/08.
Earthwatch Institute. Approximately $6M, 08/96–12/25 (6 renewals).
PUBLICATIONS
H-index: 55; i10-index: 141.
37 publications in high-impact journals, including Nature and Nature journals (6), Science and Science Advances (2), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (7), Ecology Letters (5), and Ecology (17).
See complete Publications page.
OUTREACH
Neotropical Lepidoptera Course. Loreto, Peru, 2013; Bahia, Brazil, 2015; Colombia, 2017. Two-week intensive field training experience for students, postdocs, faculty, and non-academics. Most students are from Latin America, with additional participants from Europe.
HSBC Climate Change and Sustainability Training, 2012–present. Field-based training on sustainability and the science of climate change for CEOs, COOs, and other executives in the international HSBC bank.
Earthwatch Institute, 1996–2025. Taught, trained, and conducted research with more than 50 volunteers per year (approximately 1,100 total); provided experience in ecology and evolutionary biology for teachers, high-school students, and the general public; worked with underrepresented groups of K–12 students. Volunteer teams lasted 1–3 weeks. These intensive community-science and diversity-and-inclusion programs were the focus of the laboratory’s outreach efforts.
Research Experience for Teachers (NSF), Research Opportunity Awards (NSF), and other educational supplemental funding, 2007–present. Approximately one participant per year.
Western Colorado Center for Tropical Research. Founder, 1997. WCCTR remains active and provides tropical research experiences, grants, tropical biology courses, and trips to the tropics.
Serve as a scientist for public-lands agencies, including BLM RAC and USFS committees.
Worked with local K–12 schools in New Orleans and Reno to expose students to entomology and ecology, approximately 1–3 schools per year.
Full PDF of CV is below