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 Professor
Contact
Information
Phone:
309-457-2394
Email: kenc@monm.edu
Office: Rm. 243, CSB
Education
B.S., University of Missouri, 1979
M.S. University of Oklahoma, 1983
Ph.D. Utah State University, 1988
Courses
taught
Intro.
to Ecology, Evolution and Diversity; Ecology; Environmental Science; Field
Zoology; Animal Behavior; Life on Earth; Introduction to Liberal Arts;
Reflections - Beyond Belief (Science, Religion and Meaning); Citizenship -
Green Initiatives.
Research
Interests
In
general, I am broadly interested in animal ecology, diversity, and behavior
and students have worked with a wide variety of organisms in my lab, from
mice to snakes. However, students generally focus on some aspect of
spider behavior or ecology, often working with the brown recluse
spider. I am interested in the distribution and natural history of
this spider in Illinois and Iowa and have set up a web page to collect data
from the general public, the Brown
Recluse Project.
Students
have worked on foraging behavior of recluses including studies on their
preference for live or dead prey and the possible use of olfaction in
locating dead prey. Also, we have investigated temperature tolerance
in brown recluses. Many other projects on the behavior and ecology of
this species are waiting to be done! Other students have worked with
various orb-weaving spiders to investigate some of their behaviors such as
constructing a stabilimentum or web-shaking. Prey choice and learning
in jumping spiders is also a subject for exploration. Studies of spider diversity in different
habitats such as restored and virgin prairies also hold great potential for
research.
Field
Research and Teaching Experience
RESEARCH:
Recluse spider behavior and distribution
Spider communities in remnant and restored prairies, Illinois
Leaf litter spider communities in temperate forests, Tennessee
Twig-girdling beetle oviposition site selection, Missouri
Effects of predation on rodent community structure, Chile
Deer mouse life history strategies, Utah
Tiger beetle mating preferences, Oklahoma
Gull-pelican interactions, Colima, Mexico
TEACHING:
Insect Ecology, Institute for Tropical Ecology and Conservation, Panama
Mammalogy, Organization for Tropical Studies summer course, Costa Rica
Conservation biology, ACM Wilderness Field Station, Minnesota
Conservation biology, Blakely Island Field Station, Washington
Birds of the Pacific Northwest, Blakely Island Field Station, Washington
Recent
Publications
Cramer, K. L. 2008. Are brown
recluse spiders (Loxosceles reclusa) scavengers? The influence of
predator satiation, prey size and prey quality. J. Arachnology
36:140-144.
Cramer, K. L. and A. V. Maywright.
2008. Cold temperature tolerance and the distribution of the brown recluse
spider, Loxosceles reclusa (Araneae, Sicariidae) in Illinois. J.
Arachnology 36:136-139.
Cramer, K. L. 2003. The influence
of precipitation change on spiders as top predators in the detrital
community. Chapter 20 in North American Temperate Deciduous Forest
Responses to Changing Precipitation Regimes. Ecological Studies vol. 166, ed. P. J. Hanson and S. D. Wullschleger.
Springer, New York, NY, 472 pp.
Cramer, K. L. 1998. Effects
of twig morphology on oviposition and hatching success of the twig-girdling
beetle Oncideres cingulata (Coleoptera:Cerambycidae). Coleopterist's
Bulletin 52:186-193.
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