Rate My Professor Thomas Crist

Thomas O. Crist is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Miami University, where he has been a faculty member for over 31 years. He previously served as Chair of the Biology Department from 2015 to 2023 and as Director of the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability from 2011 to 2015. Crist holds a Ph.D. in Biology-Ecology from Utah State University (1990), a Master of Forest Science from Yale University (1984), and a B.A. in Biology from McPherson College (1982). His affiliations include the Ecology Research Center, Center for Animal Behavior, and the Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology PhD Program. Crist teaches courses such as BIO 209 Fundamentals of Ecology, BIO 312 Invertebrate Zoology, BIO 671 Population and Community Ecology, and advanced seminars.

A terrestrial ecologist, Crist's research centers on biodiversity and landscape ecology, investigating how human activities alter landscapes and impact biodiversity, species interactions, and ecosystem services. His work emphasizes insects' roles in ecosystems, including pollination, biological control, and cultural services. Ongoing long-term experiments in Miami University's natural areas examine interactions among white-tailed deer, invasive shrubs like Amur honeysuckle, exotic earthworms, and litter-dwelling invertebrates. Crist utilizes statistical modeling, spatial analysis, and geographic information systems in his quantitative research across scales from experimental plots to landscapes and habitats like grasslands, forests, and agroecosystems. He has been recognized among the top 2% of researchers worldwide based on career-long citation impact. Key publications include "Navigating the multiple meanings of β diversity: a roadmap for the practicing ecologist" (Anderson et al., 2011), "Landscape moderation of biodiversity patterns and processes—eight hypotheses" (Tscharntke et al., 2012), "Partitioning species diversity across landscapes and regions" (Crist et al., 2003), and recent works such as "Differential patterns of taxonomic and functional diversity for two groups of canopy arthropods across spatial scales" (Mahon et al., 2023) and "Indirect effects of deer on insect pests and soybean plants" (VanGorder et al., 2021).