At Utah Tech University I am first and foremost a teacher who loves to work with undergraduate students in the wonderful deserts and mountains surrounding St. George. My formal training was in behavioral ecology and for my dissertation work I studied the foraging behavior of squirrels to gain insights into food value, habitat use, the risk of predation, and coexistence of animal competitors. More recently I have become interested in the ecology of cliffs, and more specifically, the ecology of cliff-dwelling lichens. Undergraduate students that take my ecology classes do a variety of field based projects, with an emphasis on ecological survey techniques. For undergraduate research I offer projects ranging from field-based optimal foraging experiments, animal activity (as measured by camera traps or live traps), to base-line surveys of cliff vegetation.
Education
Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution
- University of Illinios at Chicago
M.Sc. in Entomology
- University of Pretoria, South Africa
B.Sc. in Zoology and Genetics
- University of Pretoria, South Africa
Courses
- BIOL 1010 - General Biology
- BIOL 1610 - Principles of Biology I
- BIOL 3040 - General Ecology
- BIOL 3045 - General Ecology Lab
- BIOL 4040 - Medical Ecology
- BIOL 4411 - Mammalogy
- BIOL 4415 - Mammalogy Lab
- BIOL 4810/4820 - Independent Research I/II
- BIOL 4910/4920 - Senior Seminar I/II
- BIOL 4930 - Senior Thesis
Contact
Marius van der Merwe, PH.D.
Email: marius.van.der.merwe@utahtech.edu
Phone: 435-652-7924
Office: SCI 203