About Blog News Publications Science resources Software resources Curriculum vitae

About me - Benjamin Blonder (bblonder@gmail.com)

• I am an ecologist at the University of Arizona, and am a Ph.D. candidate working with Brian Enquist's group. I am broadly interested in biological networks.
  
  
• I am also interested in improving science education through experiential approaches. I lead Inner City Outings trips for the Sierra Club and was a NSF GK-12 fellow at Miles Exploratory Learning Center in Tucson, Arizona.
  
  
• I am currently a visiting researcher at the Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate at Copenhagen University's Department of Biology.

Weekly photo-blog

• Visit Natural curiosities - exploring form and function

News

• New book chapter on social insects published in Springer-Verlag's Temporal Networks! (Jun/13)
• New handbook of functional traits published in Austr J Bot! (May/13)
• Meadow image featured in BMC Ecology! (Mar/13)
• Network paper and bee image featured on the cover of Methods in Ecology and Evolution! (Dec/12)

  Publications

  • Charbonneau, D., Blonder, B., Dornhaus, A. Social Insects: A Model System for Network Dynamics. Chapter in Temporal Networks (Springer-Verlag), 2013. Link, PDF
    
  • Perez-Harguindeguy, N., ..., Blonder, B., et al. New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide. Australian Journal of Botany, 2013, 61: 167234. Link, PDF
    
  • Blonder, B., et al. the leaf-area shrinkage effect can bias paleoclimate and ecology research. American Journal of Botany, 2012, 99(11): 1756-1763. Link, PDF
    
  • Blonder, B., De Carlo, F., Moore, J., Rivers, M., Enquist, B. X-ray imaging of leaf venation networks. New Phytologist, 2012, 196(4): 1274-1282. Link, PDF
    
  • Blonder, B., Wey, T., Dornhaus, A., James, R., Sih, A. Temporal dynamics and network analysis. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2012, 3(6): 958-972. Link, PDF
    
  • Blonder, B., Violle, C., Patrick, L., Enquist, B. Leaf venation networks and the origin of the leaf economics spectrum. Ecology Letters, 2011, 14(2): 91-100. Link, PDF
    
  • Blonder, B. and Dornhaus, A. Time-ordered networks reveal limitations to information flow in ant colonies. PLoS One, 2011, 6(5): e20298. Link, PDF
    
  • Kattge, J., ..., Blonder, B., et al. TRY - a global database of plant traits. Global Change Biology, 2011, 17(9): 2905-2935. Link, PDF
    
  • Blonder, B. Teaching K-12 fluid dynamics: the physics of flow. APS Forum on Education Newsletter, 2009. Link, PDF
  

  Science resources

  • The secrets of leaves - leaf venation networks - art, visualization, software
  • An introduction to R for ecologists - a week-long course for learning statistics and data visualization. First taught at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, summer 2011. (upper-level undergraduate/graduate)
    
  • Teaching portfolio - McCall Outdoor Science School, 2008-2009 (elementary/middle school)
    
  • The Physics of Biological Systems - taught at Swarthmore College, spring 2008. (upper level undergraduate)
    
  • Tree scaling - a lesson on limits to tree height and radius. Contains theory, field experiments, and computer analysis resources. Paired with additional resources files and MATLAB code. First taught for Integrated Science 303 at the University of Arizona. (upper-level undergraduate)
    
  • Weird plant lesson - a list of odd plants and a lesson plan for guided research projects. Taught in Tucson for 6th-8th grade. (middle/high school)
  

  Software resources

  • Cavendish Education - n-body gravitation simulator
    
  • Cavendish Screensaver - 3D gravitation screensaver
    
  • SophoKeys - polytonic Greek keyboard layouts supporting Beta Code
    
  • Structure - 3D protein visualization screensaver
    
  • timeordered - dynamic network analysis package for R
  

  Curriculum vitae

  • My CV is available as a PDF. References are available upon request.