About me
I am a graduate student in the at the University of Arizona. I am broadly interested in biological networks. My current research focuses on understanding how leaf venation networks impact plant adaptation and acclimation to novel climates. I am also interested in improving science education through experiential approaches. I lead Inner City Outings trips for the Sierra Club and am currently a NSF GK-12 fellow at Miles Exploratory Learning Center.
News
My aspen leaf image won 18th place in the Nikon Small World competition. (Oct/11)
Current climate research featured on Nature newsblog! (Aug/11)
Publications
Blonder, B. Teaching K-12 fluid dynamics: the physics of flow. APS Forum on Education Newsletter (Summer 2009). 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. (135 authors total). TRY - a global database of plant traits. Global Change Biology 2011, 17(9): 2905-2935. 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
Science resources
The secrets of leaves - leaf venation networks - art, visualization, software
Natural curiosities - A photo-blog about my research, updated weekly
Teaching resources
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 for Mac OS X
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.
Contact Benjamin Blonder
E-mail: bblonder@gmail.com
Mail: 222 N 2nd Avenue, Tucson AZ, 85705
Phone: 908 578 6526