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                        CURRICULUM VITAE

Warren P. Porter
Address:  Department of Zoology, U. of Wisconsin
                250 N. Mills St. ,    Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (608) 262-1719; 262-0029
Fax:  (608) 262-9083
Email:  wpporter@wiscmail.wisc.edu

Degrees:
     B.S.  (Zoology) Univ. of Wisconsin Madison, 1961
     M.A.  (Ichthyology) Univ. of California, Los Angeles, 1963
     Ph.D.  (Physiological Ecology) UCLA, 1966
Fellowships:
     NASA Predoctoral Fellow, 1964-1966 with Dr. Kenneth S. Norris
     NIH Research Associate at Center for Biology of Natural Systems, Washington U., St. Louis with Dr. David M. Gates, 1966-1968
Employment:
     Research Assistant to Dr. A.D. Hasler, U. of Wisconsin,  Hydrobiology Lab, Summers of 1960, 1961, 1962
     Teaching Assistant in Zoology, UCLA, 1961-1964
     Research Assistant to Dr. K.S. Norris, Dept of Zoology, UCLA,  Summers of 1963, 1964
     Assistant Professor of Zoology, U. of Wisconsin, Madison, 1968-1971
     Associate Professor of Zoology, U. of Wisconsin, Madison, 1971-1974
     Professor of Zoology, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, 1974-present
     Professor of Environmental Toxicology, U. of Wisconsin, Madison, 1986 - present
     Chair, Dept. of Zoology. 1 July 1993 - 30 June, 1998
Honors:
  a)Research honors:

 b)Teaching honors:   c)Administration honors: Honors of my students since 1980: Teaching:
       Animal Biology (Zoo. 101) (spring: approximately 800 - 1000 students)
       Biophysical Ecology (Zoo. 504) (fall:  10 - 15 students )
       Field Physiological Ecology (Zoo. 540) (spring: 15 - 20 students)
       Ecotoxicology (Env. Tox. & Zoo. 367)(fall:  30 - 50)
       Undergraduate Research (Zoo. 699) (fall, spring)
       Graduate Research (Zoo. 990) (fall, spring, summer)
       Graduate seminars of various numbers (fall, spring)
        Annual guest lectures in Zoo. 120; Atm. & Oceanic Sciences 121; Inst.Env.Studies 600
Other training or experience relating to my technical competence:
(1)    2 1/2 years night school training in electronics while a
         graduate student at UCLA working on my Ph.D.
(2)    Mass spectrometer operation and theory at U. Wis. Chemistry Dept.
(3)    Semester courses taken at Univ. Wis. since coming here as a faculty member:
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
    Micrometeorology (no longer offered, but closest to AOSS 520, Bioclimatology)
    Past Climates and Climatic Change (AAOS 528)
Business
    Marketing Management (Bus. 520)
Chemistry
    Intermediate Analytical Chemistry (Chem. 524)
Chemical Engineering
    Transport Phenomena (Chem. Eng. 320))
    Computational Modeling of Reactive Systems (Chem. Eng. 731)
    Intermediate Transport Phenomena (Chem. Eng. 760)
Ecology and Energetics
    Advanced Animal Ecology (Zoo 620)
    Bioenergetics (Animal Sci. 622)
Endocrinology
    Pathology 778 (Quantitative Human Chemistry: Endocrine measurements)
Mathematics and Numerical Methods
    Numerical Methods (Computer Sci. 412)
    Differential equations (Math. 305)
    Linear Algebra (Math 340)
    Stochastic Modeling Processes (Ind. Eng. 624)
    Optimization Methods (Ag. Econ. 815)
    Mathematics for Dynamic Modeling (Math. 415)
Mechanical Engineering
    Engineering Thermodynamics I, II (M.E. 361, 362)
    Fluid Dynamics (M.E. 364)
    Engineering Heat Transfer
    Basic Heat Transfer (M.E. 363)
    Conduction (M.E. 764)
    Convection (M.E. 765)
    Radiation (M.E. 760)
    Engineering Control Theory (M.E. 446)
Meteorology
    Microclimatology (Met. 532)
Physiological Chemistry
    Physiological Chemistry 704
Soil Science
    Soil Science 621
Statistics
    Statistical Experimental Design for Engineers (Stat. 424)
    Statistics for Biologists I(Stat. 571)
    Statistics for Biologists II (Stat. 572)
Toxicology
    Environmental Toxicology 625
    Environmental Toxicology 626
Zoology
    Landscape Ecology 650
Other technical competencies Consulting expertise: Professional Services (Outside since 1986)
     International      National      State      City, county Professional Campus Service Current collaborative research projects with Outside Invitations or Professional Talks presented
(1985 - 1986)
1)Princeton;    2) SUNY - Buffalo;   3) National Physiological Ecology Symposium on the Olympic Peninsula;      4)Colorado State U., Dept. of Veterinary Science;   5) DOE special state-of-the-art speaker to top administrators;   6) Midwest Population Biology Symposium
(1986 - 1987)
1) Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on stress effects on animals;  2) Theoretical Ecology Symposium organized by Bob May and Jon Roughgarden;  3) U. W. Dept. of Phys. Educ. seminar on variability of  physiological properties of animals:  Implications for energetics;
4) Iowa State Dept. Zool. seminar;  5) Keynote address at Dinosaur Symposium (Waco, TX).  Talk on Cretaceous Maiasaurs - their paleoclimates, heat and mass balances and growth potential and metabolic rates. 6) ASZ paper on "Doubly labeled water vs heat and mass transfer" (showing we can calculate metabolic rates and water loss for lizards in the field from first principles)  7) Cornell U. - 2 invited lectures;  8) US EPA - Washington D.C. - Multiple, interacting low level toxicants";  9) US EPA - Corvallis, OR - "Multiple low level stressors;  impact on growth and reproduction potential"; 10)  ACLAM talk - National meeting in Chicago - invited presentation on our lizard research
(1987 - 1988)
1) ASZ symposium on animal energetics  International Theriological Congress Symposium invitation in Rome  2) invitation to International Herpetological Congress, Canterbury, England (session co-chair)
(1988 - 1990)
1) U. of Chicago - Coupled heat and mass balances and behavioral, immune and endocrine interactions: implications for growth and reproduction in multiple stressor environments.  2)     Paper at national herp. meetings in San Francisco on  “Calculations vs measurements of altitudinal and climatic effects on growth potential of garter snakes” with Chuck Peterson.  3) Co-chair of Animal Energetics symposium at First International Congress of Herpetelogy, Canterbury, UK   Sept. 11-19;  4) presenter of keynote paper:  Climate and food variation: behavioral optimization of heat and mass exchange for maximum growth and reproduction.
5) Invited paper at ASZ symposium in Boston:  Global models of climate change and implications for growth and reproduction.
(1991 - 1992)
1)  Invited paper in Theoretical Ecology symposium, Washington, D.C.  May, 1991 on global climate change impacts on animal population dynamics;  2) Two papers at Am. Soc. Zool. national meetings, Dec. '91 on a) Climate and physiological effects on life history variables of lizards; on b) Low level groundwater contaminants effects on endocrine, immune and nerve function in mammals. 3)Invited paper on low level climate, disease and agricultural  stressors affecting growth and reproduction potential in  mammals. at Walter Reed Army Medical Facility.  April, 1991. 4) Invited paper at National meeting on Biotelemetry in Anaheim, CA., Nov. 1991 on use of radiotelemetry to predict energetic costs in free ranging animals. 5) Invited symposium paper at Ecol. Soc. Am. annual meeting (Hawaii, Aug. 1992) on individual based models' contributions to population and community theory. 6) Invited talk at the Wisconsin DNR Lakes Conference meeting on aquatic herbicides.  Stevens Point, WI  1993.
(1993-1994)
1) Invited symposium paper at International Theriological  Congress in Sydney, Australia, July, 1993, on Comparative  Physiology of Mammals. "How fur works, a general model for endotherm energetics.'  2) Invited symposium paper at International Herpetological  Congress in Adelaide, Australia, Jan. 1994, on "Climatic and  physiological constraints affecting population dynamics and community structure in reptiles."   3) Invited talk to World Wildlife Fund Agricultural Pollution Prevention Conference, Ann Arbor, MI. Jan. 1994; 4) Invited participant in Wingspread Conference on ‘Toxicants in the Environment’.  Mr. ‘94; Racine, WI; 5) Invited talk to the Wis. DNR   May ‘94  on Health effects of groundwater contaminants mixtures.; 6) Invited talk to the Int. Assn. of Great Lakes Research meetings in Windsor, Ont. June ‘94 on “Mixtures of Low Level Insecticides & Herbicides - Immune, Endocrine & Neurological Disruptions”; 7) Invited participant in COMAP meeting on Global Climate Change modeling.  June ’94; 8)  Ecol. Soc. Am. paper on ‘A new NO-DOPE stable isotope technique for assessing catabolic/anabolic status in animals in the field over varying time intervals.” Aug. ’94; 9) Invited talk to the International Joint Commission workshop, Toledo, OH Aug ‘94 on Development of Workable Policies for Pesticide Reduction.; 10) Invited seminar to Hydrology group at U. W., Madison on groundwater contaminant mixtures and health effects. Sept. ’94;  11) Invited talk to regional workshop of the National Campaign for Pesticide Policy Reform in St. Louis, MO  Oct. ’94;  12) Invited talk to Wis. DNR Bureau Directors and Managers on ‘Multiple health effects of low level mixtures of groundwater contaminants.’  Nov. ‘94.; 13) Invited talk to DOE Climate Change meeting, Knoxville, TN  May 20 - 23, 1995. on ‘Climate change effects of ectotherm and endotherm population dynamics and community structure across species ranges’.
(1995-1996)
1) Invited participant in EPA Endocrine Disruptor Workshop at Research Triangle Park, NC.  April 10-13, 1995.  2) Invited talk to biannual meeting of the International Joint Commission meeting in Duluth, MN on ‘Health problems associated with pesticides in drinking water’. October, 1995;   3) Popular article in ON WISCONSIN magazine on yard chemicals and impact on animal and human health.  4) Invited all expenses paid talk to the Am. Assn. of Higher Education, Washington, D.C. 9 June, 1996. ‘A success story of strategic long range planning by faculty and staff in a University department.’ 5) Invited talk to Quality Development Network group at U.W. Madison on ‘How to initiate and impliment long range planning at the departmental level. July 1996;  6) CNN interview on ‘Health consequences of contaminated water’.. June, 1996. Aired in August, 1996.;  7) Ecol. Soc. Am. National Meeting 11 Aug. 1996. ‘Climate variation and optimal body sizes: implications for community structures globally.  8)  Invited participant in PEW charitable trust funded national workshop on ‘How to promote and manage change in the University environment’  Detroit, MI. September, 1966.; 9) Invited 2 hour presentation at USEPA  Workshop, Davis, CA on ‘Human and Ecological Risk Assessment’.  September, 1996.; 10) Invited talk to an International Wingspread Conference 27-29 September, 1996, on ‘Health Effects of Contemporary Use Pesticides: The Wildlife/Human Connection’. 11) Invited talk to Midwest Population Biology Conference, October, 1996. ‘Climate variation and its constraints on community structure of ectotherms and endotherms. 12) Invited participant in Sierra Club press conference in Chicago, IL on ‘Endocrine disruptors: immune, neurological and developmental implications’. October, 1996. 13) Invited talk to national meeting of Am. Soc. of Mechanical Engineers, Atlanta, GA. Nov. 1996. ‘Heat and mass transfer principles applied to animals in their environments.’ 14) Invited talk in lizard ecology symposium, Am. Soc. Zool., Albuquerque, NM Dec. 1996,  Predicting survival, growth & reproduction in reptiles across their distributional limits from climate data and physical, physiological and behavioral properties.’ 15) ’Invited talk in bird ecology symposium, Am. Soc. Zool., Albuquerque, NM. Dec. 1996 “Heat and mass transfer through bird feathers: a first principles model using finite elements in cylindrical coordinates”; 16) Guest lectures to Zoology 101, 120 and graduate training seminars in the College of Agriculture on ‘Current issues in toxicology’.  17) Invited lecture to FOSSTA (consortia of states for regulating environmental chemicals) Chemical Management Project, 9 Dec., 1996,  Washington, D.C. on ‘Multiple chemical mixtures: low concentrations and their effects on development, endocrine, immune and behavior in animals.’
(1997)
 1) Invited seminar, U. of Nevada, Reno.  February, 1997. ‘Using mechanistic climate, ectotherm and endotherm models for predicting survivorship, growth and reproduction of rare and endangered species.’ 2) Invited seminars, U. of Washington, Seattle.  February, 1997. ‘Biological effects of low level environmental contaminants in drinking water’; Physical, physiological and behavioral constraints on community structure of mammals at local and global scales.’ 3) Invited workshop presentation, ‘Chair’s relationship with the staff: Enhancing Workplace Dynamics’, U.W. Madison February, 1997. 4) Two invited talks to Upper Midwest Organic Farmers Conference, Dubuque, IA,  ‘Biological effects of low level environmental contaminants in drinking water’ March, 1997 5) Invited participation in PEW Foundation Conference, Ann Arbor, MI April, 1997.  ‘Promoting constructive change in Universities’ 6) Invited Shell Science Scholar talk at 45th Annual National NSTA (National Society of Teachers of America) New Orleans. April, 1997. ‘Neurological, Endocrine, Immune and Developmental Impact of Low-Level Pesticide Mixtures in Drinking Water’ 7) Invited presentation to Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection  May, 1997 ,  ‘Biological effects of low level environmental contaminants in drinking water’ 8) Invited talk to the North Central Accreditation meeting, Chicago, IL. June, 1997.  ‘Strategic Planning in the Framework of a Campus-wide Vision for the Future’, Hyatt Regency, Chicago. April 1997 9) Invited seminar at EPA Region V headquarters, Chicago. ‘Biological effects of low level environmental contaminants in drinking water’. May, 1997 10)  Invited seminar at national conference on agriculture, food and human values, ‘ Biological effects of common mixtures of groundwater contaminants.’ June, 1997. 11)  Invited seminar to Cargill Corp. at UIR sponsored meeting, ‘Stable isotopes: their use and application in agriculture and livestock production.’ July, 1997. 12)  Invited presentation for Office of Quality Improvement to European and Asian University administrators on ‘Developing Quality Management in an academic department.  July, 1997. 13) Keynote speech at 3rd International Congress of Herpetology, Prague, Czechoslovakia. August 2-10, 1997. ‘Climate variation and individual properties: population and community consequences at local and global scales.’; Program co-chair of a symposium on climate change. 14) Invited presentation to high level Chinese delegation on ‘Biological effects of fertilizer/pesticide mixtures in drinking water.  August, 1997. 15)  Invited seminar to State of Wisconsin annual meeting of Public Health specialists, ‘Biological effects of current contaminant mixtures in drinking water’, September, 1997. 16) Invited presentation at Climate Change Workshop, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO October, 1997.  ‘Climate variation and its impact on ectotherm and endotherm distributions globally.’ 17) Invited seminar to CIC Big 10 Conference, Chicago, on ‘Developing quality management practices in an academic department’. October, 1997. 18) Invited seminar to the State of Wis. Groundwater Coordinating Council on ‘Biological effects of current contaminant mixtures in drinking water’, Nov. 1997.
1998
1) Invited talk to 50th annual regional Pesticides Conference, U. of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, ‘Biological effects of low level pesticide/fertilizer mixtures in groundwater.’ 2) Two invited talks to Upper Midwest Organic Farmers Conference, Dubuque, IA,  ‘Biological effects of low level environmental contaminants in drinking water’ February, 1998 3) Two invited seminars, Virginia Tech, ‘Local and global consequences for animal distributions and community structure when climates vary.’ , ‘Biological effects of low level pesticide/fertilizer mixtures in groundwater.March, 1998. 4) Invited talk to U.W. Alumni as part of the Alumni University progam for distinguished alumni, ‘The Inside Scoop on Environmental Contaminants’  June, 1998. 5) 1 October, 1998, Biological effects of groundwater
pesticide/fertilizer mixtures.  NCEAS eco-lunch talk. 6) 17 October, 1998. Keynote speech: Human health implications of groundwater contaminant mixtures.  Illinois organic farming conference, Mattoon, Illinois 7) 21 October, 1998, Medical implications of environmental contaminants.  Talk to Physicians as health activists at Madison, Wisconsin Medical School. 8) 2 November, 1998, Calculating climate effects on birds and mammals: impacts on biodiversity, conservation and global community structure. UCSB seminar.
1999
Invited talks/radio interviews/documentary movie interviews given
1) 8 January 1999.  Scaling, climate, biodiversity and conservation: for and feathers.  Invited talk in bird evolution symposium.  Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology national meeting, Jan. 6-10, 1999. Denver CO. 2) 20 January, 1999.  Biological effects of environmental contaminants. Harvey Mudd College, Claremont CA 3) 17 February, 1999. Pesticides, fertilizers and groundwater mixtures: effects on immune, endocrine and nervous system function. Midwest
Organic Farmers Conference, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin 4) 17 March,1999, The biological effects of environmental contaminants, EEMB Department, UCSB
5) 23 March, 1999, Biological effects of environmental contaminants, Earthwatch PBS radio interview (live) 6) 5 April, 1999, Groundwater contaminants, learning an aggression levels, WORT radio interview, Madison Wisconsin. 7) 12 April, 1999, climate-animal interactions implications for land-use and community structure, NASA presentation, Washington D.C. 8) 13 April, 1999, Biological effects of environmental contaminants, Santa Barbara City College course on Environmental contaminants 9) 21 April, 1999, Environmental contaminants in food and water-biological impacts, Earthsave Society, Santa Barbara 10) 24 April, 1999, Food safety and genetically engineered food-panel discussion, Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara public library 11) 28 April, 1999, Biological implications of low-level pesticide mixtures in drinking water, National Public Radio interview (one hour) 12) 3 May 1999, low-level biological effects due to pesticide mixtures, BREN Environmental Center, UCSB 13) 10 May, 1999, Toxic deception, one-on-one half-hour radio interview on station KEYT, Santa Barbara 14) 10 May, 1999, Groundwater contaminant mixtures and their biological impacts, Center Barbara Yacht Club 15) 11 May, 1999, Biological implications of groundwater pesticide
mixtures contamination, one hour interview on National E Magazine radio talk show 16) 18 May, 1999, Common pesticide mixtures impacts on biological
systems, legislative aides, California state capital, Sacramento, California 17) 19 May, 1999, Implementing quality management in an academic environment, Deans and chancellor's representatives, University of California, Berkeley 18) 20 May, 1999, common pesticide mixtures and their implications for children's health, Wisconsin public radio, Milwaukee (1 hour live interview) 19) 24 May, 1999, Human health implications of common pesticide mixtures in groundwater, with Wisconsin public radio, Green Bay (1 hour live interview) 20) 18 June, 1999, Pesticide Mixtures, Learning Abilities and Aggression Levels in Children, Iranian Research Institute, Tehran, Iran 21) 12. July, 1999. Invited movie interview for documentary on organophosphates and suicides in farmers. Producer:  Joe Gray.
22) 13- 17 July, 1999. Invited participant in body size workshop at NCEAS. 23) 22 July, 1999. Medical implications of low-level environmental contaminants.  Santa Barbara County Medical community talk, Ventura, CA. (Environmental Defense Center) 24) 26 July, 1999. Environmental contaminants and children’s health.
Grossman Gallery, Lompoc library, Lompoc, CA. 25) 8 Sept., 1999 Interviewed by Chicago Tribute reporter Ron Kotulak on toxicological research 26) 13 Sept., 1999. Environmental contaminants and human health with emphasis on lawn chemicals.  Northern Iowa University, Cedar Falls, IA 27) 19 Sept., 1999  Biological effects of low level groundwater contaminants mixture. Lumpkin Foundation, Mattoon, IL 28) 24 Sept., 1999. Human health implications of low level groundwater contaminant mixtures exposure.  Regional Environmental Health Conference.  Wisconsin Dells, WI 29)  30 Sept., 1999.  ‘Lawn chemical reduction processes; health implications of lawn chemical exposures.’  University Safety Comm. Meeting  invited presentation.  U.W. Madison. 30)  8 Oct., 1999. ‘Biological effects of environmental contaminants.’  Cornell U., Ithaca, NY. 31)  11-13 Nov., 1999  Body size workshop, NCEAS, Santa Barbara 32)  14 Nov., 1999.  ‘Stable isotopes and human health.’  Informed Diagnostics, Inc.
2000
1)  1 Feb., 2000.  ‘Food contaminants and nutrients: conventional vs. organic production.’  Safety of Alternative Production systems, including GMOs conference. Sponsored by the Illinois Strategic Research Initiative in Food Safety of C-FAR. 2)  4 Feb., 2000. Live one hour interview on Minnesota Public Radio, Station WCCO, Minneapolis, on what is and is not known about biological effects of common chemical contaminants. 3)  6-8 Feb., 2000.  ‘Biological effects of low level contaminants mixtures: implications for children’s health.’ Presentation in St. Paul, MN, St. Olaf’s College, MN and presentations to two legislative committees of the State of Minnesota. 4)  15 Feb., 2000.  ‘Biological effects of low level contaminants mixtures: implications for children’s health.’  U. W. Appleton select continuing education program. 5) 7 March, 2000.   ‘Biological effects of low level contaminants mixtures: implications for children’s health.’  Milwaukee Dept. of Public Health, Milwaukee Public School System Groundskeepers 6) 9 March, 2000. ‘Neurological, endocrine and immune effects of low level environmental contaminants in groundwater’. Citizens group,  Janesville, WI 7) 9-10 March, 2000. ‘Current status of research on biological effects of low level contaminants mixtures: implications for children’s health.’ Lumpkin Foundation, Chicago, IL. 8)  1-5 April.  Body size workshop, NCEAS, Santa Barbara, CA. 9)  27 April, 2000. ‘Neurological, endocrine and immune effects of low level environmental contaminants in groundwater’. Regional meeting of  environmental health workers.  Eau Claire, WI 10) 15 June – 15 July, 2000.  Unknown number of University talks in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and other Australian universities on Environmental Contaminants’ and on ‘Physiology on a landscape scale’.  Also collaborative research with at least 3 faculty at various universities there. 11) 16 Sept. 2000. ‘Neurological, endocrine and immune implications of contaminated foodstuffs in conventionally grown foods.’ Wisconsin Natural Foods Association meeting.  Wisconsin Dells. 12) Invited to present a symposium lecture at the International Congress in Chobe, Africa August 2001.  ‘Putting physiology on a landscape scale’.
2001
1) 5 January. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology national meeting, Symposium presentation: Physiology on a landscape scale: plant-animal interactions.
2) 16 January. Regional agricultural meeting presentation, Springfield, Illinois: "Subtle biological effects of common agricultural chemical mixes." 3) 16 March.  Invited presentation at Upper Midwest Organic Farming conference: "Roundup and other pesticide mixtures: their subtle biological effects." 4) 27 March. Presentations to U. W. Madison group, Students of Sustainability: "Subtle Biological Effects of Environmental Contaminant Mixtures". 5) 6 April. Presentation to the U. W. Veterinary School weekly seminar series: "A first principles inhalation model: applications to inhalation toxicology." 6) 29 May.  Wisconsin Public Television Interview taping with Elizabeth Koerner: "An assessment of biotechnology applied to agriculture." 7) 23 June. Denver, Colorado.  Presentation to national meeting of parents concerned with ADHD: "What is known about environmental contaminants-ADHD interactions ". 8) 24-30 June.  White Oak Conservation Center, Georgia. Invited presentations at national meetings on "Biodiversity And Wildlife" and "Wildlife Disease Management". 9) 10 August. Ecological Society of America national meeting, Madison WI. Symposium presentation: "Climate, plants, and animals: interactions on landscapes, with applications to ecological theory and conservation practice". 10) 16 August.  Fluno Center, U. W. Madison.  Invited presentation on "Departmental Chair Initiatives and Experiences" 11) 5 October.  Fluno Center, U. W. Madison, National University administrators' meeting.  Invited presentation on " Strategic Planning and Process Improvement in Academic Departments" 12) 18 -19 October.  Patuxent National Wildlife Visitors Center, Laurel, MD.  Presentation on "Landscape Toxicology". 13) 24 October. Princeton University research seminar: "Animal Landscapes".
2002
February 14-18.  Invited talk for International  Symposium  on Biodiversity and Ecophysiology  of  Animals. Varanasi, India
2003
1) January. Invited talk for "Conservation Physiology" symposium at national meeting of Society for Integrative Biology

Patents
U. S. Patent in May, 1994, for ‘Passive monitoring of health with stable isotopes’ with Mark Cook and Isabel Treichel.

U.S. Patent application P01251US. Sept., 2001, for "System and method for calculating the spatial-temporal and other effects of climate and other environmental conditions on animals" with John W. Mitchell.

JOURNAL REVIEWING 1999-2000
 Reviewed for Science, Nature, Environmental Health Perspectives, Copeia, Nature, Ecological Applications and Can. J. Fisheries.

BOOK REVIEWING 1999-2000
Reviews:
Reviewed chapters 40, 48 and 49 of the highly regarded introductory text, Life: The Science of Biology, Sixth Edition for Sinauer & Associates.  December, 1999

Brief funding history
1) Mass and energy budgets of animals: behavioral and ecological implications.
DOE   Continuous funding at $100,000 or more from 1970 through 1990.
NSF, EPA grants totalling over $1,000,000. from 1970 through 1990.
DOE:  $200,000: 1 Ap '91 - 31 Mr '92
DOE:  $220,611: 1 Ap '92 - 31 Mr '93
DOE:  $237,830: 1 Ap '93 - 1 Ap '94
2) New models and experiments describing heat and mass transfer in fur. NSF: $160,000: 1 Aug. '89 - 31 July '93
3) Thermal and hydric effects of incubation in Sceloporus merriami eggs.  NSF:  $8533.  8/15/89 - 1/31/91
4) Incorporation of the nest environment into a biophysical model of the population dynamics of reptiles.  NSF: $12,000: 7/15/89 - 6/30/91
5) ‘Groundwater contaminants’ Wis. Groundwater Res. Council. $40,000  1 July ‘94 - 30 June ‘96.
6) ‘Stable isotopes for monitoring human health’.  UIR $20,000.  1 July ‘96 - 30 June ‘97
7) ‘Stable isotopes for early detection of breast cancer’. WARF $22,000. 1 July ‘96 - 30 June ‘97
8) ‘Stable isotopes for monitoring human health’.  UIR $20,000.  1 July ‘97 - 30 June ‘98
9) ‘Pesticide mixtures effects on animals’ $30,000 CIAS 1 January, 1998 - 1 July, 1999.
10) ‘ New herbicides biological effects on amphibians’ $7500. Private foundation. 1 January, 1998 - 30 June, 1998.
11) ‘Biological impacts of lawn care products’ $60,000. 1 July, 1998 - 30 June, 2001. Private company.
Research accomplishments
     Our research program involves three parallel and complementary tracks: animal energetics as influenced by climate (and its implications for population dynamics and community structure at local, regional, and global scales), environmental contaminants that modulate cellular/molecular, organ system and individual level processes, and our patented stable isotope process that detects catabolic state and protein status without the need to dope with isotopes.
     Animal energetics: Our research group developed the first general mechanistic ectotherm and microclimate models.  The first general endotherm heat transfer models for any type of fur and any size animal were also developed in my research group in collaboration with Drs. John Mitchell and William Beckman in Mechanical Engineering.  Recently, in collaboration with Drs. Warren Stewart and Srinivas Budaraju in Chemical Engineering, we have been able to solve the problem of fluid (air) flow through fur.  We can now calculate heat and mass transfer through wet or dry fur, feathers, grass or other fibrous, porous media from basic principles.
     Our endotherm models are the only ones that have been demonstrated to be accurate to within experimental error in calculating maintenance costs and growth potential over the range of environmental conditions the animals experience.  The mammal species that the endotherm model has been verified for now include deer mice, white footed mice, cotton rats, wood rats, tundra voles, singing voles, prairie dogs, yellow bellied marmots, swine and Holstein calves.  The model has also been verified for quail and chukar partridge.  Lately, we have been able to show that we can predict the ‘mouse - to - elephant’ metabolic data that were empirically collected in 1938 by Benedict.  No one until now has been able to satisfactorily explain why the data have the slope and intercept that they do.  We can also now show how limited in application those experimental data are.  They were collected at 28 C air temperature, 36 C core temperature, low humidity and low windspeed for all sizes of animals.  We can now predict the mouse-to-elephant curve for any air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and solar radiation level for any size of animal with any kind of fur.  This implies that we can ‘design’ animals on the computer and test the calculations by manipulating genetic properties of the fur and the animals for maximum production in different climates. Lately I have created "Animal Landscapes" that illustrate how animals perceive the landscape in terms of their energetics, activity time, and interactions with other species.  These calculations use digital elevation maps that provide high-resolution information on elevation, slope, aspect, vegetation type, and soil type to reconstruct available local microclimates that the animals can then select depending upon various temperature and light dependent behaviors that each species utilizes.  The energetics for an animal for each month of the year is mapped onto the landscape using ArcView for presentation (Porter et al., 2000; 2001). An illustration of this process can be seen by viewing the QuickTime movie showing monthly energetics for a 250 g (nocturnal) dusky footed woodrat maintaining a core temperature of 37.5 C. on the  Los Olivos quadrangle in Southern California (hotlink to movie). Questions can be addressed quantitatively, such as " How do climate, topography, vegetation, soil type, and animal properties impact on behavior and physiology and the ability to survive, grow, and reproduce on real landscapes?", and "How might toxicants and pathogens in air and food modify animal physiology and behavior to alter their place on the landscape and their ability to function on the landscape?"
     The general microclimate, ectotherm and endotherm models can be used for a variety of pure and applied research purposes, such as to ask questions about the consequences of climate change or genetic changes in animals, whether natural or man-made. For example, the impact on maintenance costs and growth or reproduction potential due to changes in body size, fur coat color, hair length or density or body temperature regulation for any size of endotherm in any physical environment can now be explored quantitatively.  Questions about changes in voluntary food or water consumption of wild animals due to habitat changes affecting microenvironments or consumption of domestic animals due to environmental modification (shelters or trees) may be answered quantitatively.  Environmental changes or animal differences that affect time-space utilization can be calculated and verified in the field as we have shown for several species.  We have recently developed stochastic microclimate models that can compute the percent available habitat that is thermally available (Grant & Porter, 1992). We found that feeding rates are linearly related to the percent of thermally available microhabitats. Thus, we can predict upper bounds on feeding rates and activity time available in natural environments. Activity time is the key variable, because we use that to compute population ‘life history’ variables of survivorship, reproduction potential (Adolph and Porter, 1993), growth, time to sexual maturity and size at sexual maturity (Adolph and Porter, 1996) for a lizard species over its entire distribution in North America.
    Environmental contaminants: Interactive effects of infections, available food and water, and survival in different environments can be addressed with our models.  Recently, the models calculated suppressed growth and reproduction due to synergistic effects of slight reductions in food and water with low level disease and chemicals.  The chemicals we used include currently registered and commercially used agricultural plant growth regulator chemicals that we discovered have immune suppression properties.  Using natural routes of entry and low levels of the disease and chemicals, we subsequently experimentally verified the models' predictions and found not only greater vulnerability to disease and to low levels of chemicals under conditions of light malnourishment, but also interference with gestation, resulting in frequent abortions and reabsorptions.  The possible ramifications of these findings for malnourished populations exposed to agricultural chemicals and infections is cause for concern.
        We also have been exploring the possible effects of mixtures of low levels of insecticides, herbicides and nitrate fertilizers in drinking water on the interacting nervous, endocrine and immune systems for the last several years.  We have recently found suppression of learning and exploratory behavior, changes in hormone levels (thyroxine, somatotropin), and changes in immune parameters in rats, white mice, and deer mice at levels of pesticides that occur in groundwaters throughout the United States.
         Stable isotope process: Our patented stable isotope process is showing that we can detect catabolic (wasting) state in animals and humans virtually from the instant of onset with breath or blood protein samples.  The process can also determine past energetic status at multiple times in the past from a single current blood sample of very small amount.  The process also detects protein deficiency in the organism and how long it has persisted.  Thus, events in animals or people, such as onset of infections, AIDS (even before wasting begins), cancers, liver and kidney diseases, impact of dietary programs and malnutrition are detectable early, cheaply and easily.  We are working to further develop these processes which have large health implications as well as potentially allowing us to assess energetic status at the population level for animals outdoors.  The stable isotope process allows us to test predictions of metabolic costs and food consumption rates of free ranging animals and people.

Statement of Research Interests
     A basic unanswered question in biology is what are the mechanisms of interaction of climate, diseases and low level toxicants with the morphological, physiological, and behavioral properties of animals that affect their population and community dynamics?  The basic premises of my work are that as environmental and physiological stresses accumulate, survival costs increase at the expense of potential for growth, reproduction, fat deposition and activity.  Sometimes stressors act additively, sometimes synergistically.  The interactions of combinations of variables on biological systems is largely unexplored theoretically and experimentally.  "Standard" theory fails because many of the appropriate variables are interdependent, and the boundary conditions (driving variables) are irregular in time, making analytical solutions impossible. "Standard" experimental techniques fail because the usual "one at a time" variable experiments a) assume independence of variables b) do not yield information about interactions c) are very inefficient experimental designs and are always more expensive to perform.
     My work involves a combination of computer modeling and experimentation in the lab and in the field.  The computer models of microenvironments and animals calculate food and water required for maintenance, growth and reproduction of any kind of animal in any kind of fluctuating environment, whether the animal is healthy or sick.  The modeling involves numerical solutions to non-linear fourth order coupled differential equations of heat and mass transfer of both animals and microenvironments.  We test those models in the laboratory and the field, often using iterative fractional factorial designs, a highly efficient way to experiment when many variables may affect the system of interest.  The computer models are used to identify particularly interesting phenomena or times of the year when critical events are occurring.  This allows us to focus our research efforts and to explore circumstances that may not at first seem "intuitively
obvious".  The equations in the models require easily measured physiological, morphological and behavioral attributes of animals as well as the environmental variables that affect the animals' heat and mass transfer.
     Lately, I have been concentrating on computing the potential for growth and reproduction of both ectotherms (cold-blooded) and endotherms (warm-blooded) animals at varying latitudes and altitudes, and as a function of climatic change.  The results of these calculations have allowed us to identify likely physiological and environmental variables limiting distributions of three species of ectotherms and two species of endotherms.
    Recently we have been able to show that our calculations of metabolic rate and water loss of the western fence lizards in the field, based on heat and mass transfer models of microclimates and the animals are within the experimental error bounds of doubly labeled water measurements.  We did the same thing for the tundra voles in the arctic.  We have shown that the models are accurate to within experimental error in defined laboratory environments for twelve species of mammals and two species of birds (Porter et al, 1994).  We have also been able to predict from first principles the empirically derived ‘mouse-to-elephant’ curve, which has never been done before.  We have also been able for the first time to evaluate quantitatively Bergmann’s rule, which says that animals within a species tend to be larger at more northerly latitudes and higher altitudes (Steudel et al, 1994).  We were able to show that small animals should optimally grow longer fur, rather than have larger body size, but other constraints on fur dictate that body size change is effectively the only remaining variable to minimize energetic cost.
      Our latest research explores the contributions energetics make to population dynamics and community structure.  We are integrating in our animal models the heat and mass balance models for energy intake and expenditures, body size effects on gut function and locomotion costs and optimal behavior for foraging using dynamic programming techniques.  We have discovered and   patented a process that allows us to measure anabolic or catabolic state of an animal over many time intervals simultaneously, from instantaneously to the last 3 days, the last 3 months, the last 6 months or longer.  The process also allows us to determine which substrates (carbohydrates, fats, proteins) are being utilized for energy.  This also allows us to determine whether animals are food limited or processing at maximum capacity and for how long.  Thus, we are in a postition to evaluate quantitatively what is 'optimal' body size in changing environments in time and space and how that affects the number of species in a community.

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