Rate My Professor Lawrence Weider

Lawrence J. Weider is Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Oklahoma, a position he has held since July 2012. Prior to this, he served as Professor in the Department of Zoology at the same institution from July 2005 to June 2012, and as Associate Professor from January 1999 to June 2005, concurrently directing the University of Oklahoma Biological Station during these periods. His earlier career includes an Associate Research Scientist position at the Max-Planck-Institut für Limnologie in Plön, Germany from 1990 to 1998, Assistant Professor at the University of Windsor from 1988 to 1990, and postdoctoral fellowships at the Max-Planck-Institut für Limnologie and the University of Windsor. Weider earned his Ph.D. in Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1984, with a dissertation on spatial and temporal genetic heterogeneity in Daphnia populations advised by Michael Lynch, and a B.S. in Biology/Chemistry (magna cum laude) from St. Bonaventure University in 1978.

Weider's research focuses on evolutionary ecology, population and ecological genetics, aquatic ecology, physiological ecology, life-history evolution, metapopulation dynamics, and conservation ecology, using the freshwater zooplankton genus Daphnia as a primary model organism. He investigates mechanisms such as selection and migration that maintain genetic diversity through molecular techniques including DNA sequencing and ecological approaches like life-table and selection experiments. Key publications include Frisch et al. (2014) 'A millennial-scale chronicle of evolutionary responses to cultural eutrophication in Daphnia' in Ecology Letters; Jeyasingh and Weider (2007) 'Fundamental links between genes and elements: evolutionary relevance of ecological stoichiometry' in Molecular Ecology; Weider et al. (2005) 'Genotype × environment interactions, stoichiometric food quality effects, and clonal coexistence in Daphnia pulex' in Oecologia; Kerfoot and Weider (2004) 'Experimental paleoecology ("Resurrection ecology"): chasing Van Valen’s "Red Queen Hypothesis"' in Limnology & Oceanography; and Weider and Hobæk (2003) 'Glacial refugia, haplotype distributions, and clonal richness in the Daphnia pulex complex in arctic Canada' in Molecular Ecology. He co-edited a special issue of Evolutionary Applications on resurrection ecology in 2018 and served as Associate Editor for Genetica from 2006 to 2008. Weider has held roles such as Chair of the College of Arts & Sciences Tenure & Promotion Committee (2018-2020), member of the OU Faculty Appeals Board (2018-2022), and representative on the National Ecological Observatory Network Domain Science & Education Coordinating Committee. His honors include the 2019 University of Oklahoma Regents’ Award for Superior Teaching, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Postdoctoral Fellowship (1987), and NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (1984).