Stephen Heard

Academic interests

• Plant-insect interactions
• Evolution of diet specialization
• Evolution of biodiversity

Brief biography

Dr. Stephen Heard completed his BSc (Biology) at the University of Waterloo, and a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania (1993). He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia and then took a faculty job at the University of Iowa in 1995. In 2002, he joined the faculty at UNB.

Steve’s research interests are diverse, but revolve around the ways that interactions among species have shaped the clades and ecological communities we see today. Recently, he and his graduate students have focused on the evolution of diet specialization and host races in insect herbivores of goldenrods, and on the population ecology of forest pest insects. Steve’s lab works in close collaboration with colleagues at the Canadian Forest Service and at Agriculture and AgriFood Canada, as well as at other universities.

Steve is the author of two books: The Scientist’s Guide to Writing (Princeton, 2016), and a forthcoming book for the general public, The Strangest Tribute: How Scientific Names Celebrate Adventurers, Heroes, and Even a Few Scoundrels (Yale, 2020). He also writes the award-winning blog Scientist Sees Squirrel.

Steve is currently Vice President (2018-2020; and President-elect 2020-2022) of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution. Outside of science, Steve sits on the board of the Fredericton Botanic Garden and is enthusiastic about science outreach to the community.

Steve is currently a University Research Scholar (2019-2021).

Courses taught

• BIOL 4463/6463Scientific Writing
• BIOL 3883 Entomology
• BIOL 5473 Experimental Design and Data Analysis
• BIOL 4443 International Ecology Field Course

Selected research

Fournier, A.V., E.R. White, and S.B. Heard. 2019. Site-selection bias and apparent population declines in long-term studies. Conservation Biology, in press.

Moffat, C.E., M.K. Takahashi, S.L. Pease, J.M. Brown, S.B. Heard, and W.G. Abrahamson. 2019. Are Eurosta solidaginis on Solidago rugosa a divergent host-associated race? Evolutionary Ecology 33:369-384.

Mlynarek, J.J. and S.B. Heard. 2018. Strong and complex host- and habitat- associated genetic differentiation in an apparently polyphagous leaf mining insect. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125:885-899.

Heustis, A, E.R.D. Moise, R. Johns, D.S. Pureswaran, and S.B. Heard. 2018. Impact of an invasive longhorned beetle, Tetropium fuscum (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), on community structure of subcortical and wood-associated insects in eastern Canada. Environmental Entomology 47:39-47.

Mlynarek, J.J, C.E. Moffat, S. Edwards, A.L. Einfeldt, A. Heustis, R.C. Johns, M. MacDonnell, D.S. Pureswaran, D.T. Quiring, Z. Shibel, and S.B. Heard. 2017. Enemy escape: a general phenomenon in a fragmented literature? FACETS 2:1015-1044.

Pureswaran, D., R. Johns, S.B. Heard, and D. Quiring. 2016. Paradigms in eastern spruce budworm (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) population ecology: A century of debate. Environmental Entomology 45 (6): 1333-1342.