Biology

Dr. Jessica E. Rettig

Affiliation	Faculty
Title	Associate Professor
Office	515 Talbot Hall
Email	rettig@denison.edu
Phone	740-587-5618
Fax	740-587-5634

Ph.D. in Zoology and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior from Michigan State University, 1999
B.A. in Biology from Earlham College, 1991

Academic Positions

Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Denison University. 2006 - present.

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Denison University. 2000 - 2006.

Assistant Professor, Biology Department, William Jewell College. Liberty, MO, 1997 - 2000.

Visiting Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Earlham College. Richmond, IN, 1996 - 1997.

Research

I am interested in understanding the interactions between different life stages of an organism (e.g., larva, juveniles, adults) and how these interactions, such as competition or predation, affect population dynamics. In addition I exmaine the effects that each life stage has on the community in which it lives and the overall role the species plays in a community. I am an aquatic ecologist and to address these issues I use bluegill sunfish, a common fish in local lakes and ponds. Bluegill have four distinct life stages: egg, larval, juvenile, and adult. My research examines the interactions between larval and adult bluegill and the effects of larvae on their prey community (zooplankton, tiny crustaceans). I use a combination of field surveys and experiments to understand the factors that affect larval growth and survival, such as food availability (i.e., zooplankton), competition, or predation by invertebrates, and how adult bluegill may influence these factors, for instance by consuming animals that typically prey on larvae.

I routinely have students working in my lab, either assisting me or working on their own research projects. Click here for Student Research in the Rettig Lab

Current Research

-- Tracking the abundance and species composition of zooplankton and macroinvertebrates through time in two Ohio ponds. Zooplankton and macroinvertebrates serve as food for larval and adult bluegill.

-- Comparing diets of adult and larval bluegill to look for evidence of competition for zooplankton prey or evidence for adult consumption of larval predators.

-- Estimating biomass of certain macroinvertebrates through length-mass regression analysis.

-- Determining spawning patterns for adult bluegill in Middleton and Ebaugh ponds. How does timing of reproduction relate to larval success?

Professional Memberships

American Fisheries Society
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
Association for Women in Science
Ecological Society of America
The Ohio Academy of Science
Sigma Xi

Grants, Fellowships and Honors

National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention
NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant ($4651): Interactions in a stage-structured species: Resource mediated stage dynamics
Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force Seed Grant ($1710): Stressor effects on amphibian larval communities: Integrated experiments on the effects of nitrate. (co-PI with Geoffrey R. Smith).

Professional Service

Manuscript Reviewer: Archiv fur Hydrobiologie, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Ecological Indicators, Ecology, Environmental Biology of Fishes, Great Basin Naturalist, Journal of Animal Ecology, Limnology and Oceanography, Oikos, Oecologia, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
Reviewer for Predoctoral Fellowships for the AWIS Educational Foundation (2004, 2005, 2006, & 2007). AWIS is the Association for Women in Science. Reviewed proposals in the fields of ecology and evolution.
Frant Reviewer: National Science Foundation (NSF) - Division of Environmental Biology, Ecology section (2002, 2003)
Grant Reviewer: American Association for the Advancement of Science, Women's International Science Collaboration (WISC) Program (2003)

Service to Denison

Faculty participant, Denison Service Orientation program (2007) click here for information about DSO
Member, HHMI-working group (2007)
Coordinator, 2006 Fall Faculty Conference on Academic Challenges & Expectations (jointly with members of the Faculty Development Commitee)
Chair, Student Enrollment and Retention Committee (2005-2006)
Member, Ad hoc Advisory Committee on Diversity (2005-2006)
Co-secretary, Denison Chapter of Sigma Xi (2005-2006) (with G. Smith)
Coordinator, 2005 Fall Faculty Conference on Quantitative Reasoning (jointly with S. Davis & K. Mead)
Faculty participant, Denison Outdoor Orientation program (2005 & 2006)
Member, University Council (Spring 2005)
Member, Student Enrollment and Retention Committee (2004-2005)
Coordinator, Denison Scientific Association 2004-2005 Seminar Series (with G. Smith)
Member, Faculty Development Committee (Fall 2003-August 2006)
Secretary, Denison University Chapter of Sigma Xi (2002-2003 )
Faculty Advisor, Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) student organization (Fall 2003-present)
Biology Department representative for Anderson Scholarship Committee (2001-2004)
Faculty participant: June Orientation, June Orientation phone registration, & August Orientation (2002-present)

Publications

Smith, G.R., J.B. Iverson, and J.E. Rettig, 2006. Changes in a turtle community from a northern Indiana lake: a long-term study. Journal of Herpetology. v. 40 p. 150-185

Rettig, J.E, L.S. Schuman*, and J.K. McCloskey*, 2006. Seasonal patterns of abundance: do zooplankton in small ponds do the same thing every spring-summer?. Hydrobiologia. v. 556 p. 193-207

Michajliczenko, A.H.*, G.R. Smith, and J.E. Rettig, 2004. Effect of diet on bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) tadpole growth and development.. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society. v. 40 p. 42-46

Johnson, L.D.*, G.R. Smith, and J.E. Rettig, 2004. Summer activity of small snakes in four habitats in northwestern Missouri. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society. v. 40 p. 47-52

Garvey, J.E., J.E. Rettig, R.A. Stein, D.M. Lodge, and S.P. Klosiewski, 2003. Scale-dependent associations among fish predation, littoral habitat, and distributions of crayfish species. Ecology . v. 84 p. 3339-3348

Taylor, M.*, J.E. Rettig, and G.R. Smith, 2003. Diet of re-introduced river otters, Lontra canadensis, in north-central Arizona. Journal of Freshwater Ecology. v. 18 p. 337-338

Rettig, J.E, 2003. Rettig, J.E. 2003. Zooplankton responses to predation by larval bluegill: an enclosure experiment. Freshwater Biology. v. 48 p. 636-648

Smith, G.R., A. Todd*, J.E. Rettig, & F. Nelson*, 2003. Microhabitat selection by northern cricket frogs, Acris crepitans, along a west-central Missouri creek: Field and experimental observations. Journal of Herpetology. no. 37 p. 383-385

Rettig, J.E. and G.G. Mittelbach, 2002 . Interactions between adult and larval bluegill sunfish: positive and negative effects. Oecologia. v. 130 p. 222-230

Golden*, D.R., G.R. Smith, and J.E. Rettig, 2001. Effects of age and group size on habitat selection and activity levels of Rana pipiens tadpoles. Herpetological Journal. v. 11 p. 69-73

Smith, G.R., M.A. Waters*, and J.E. Rettig, 2000. Consequences of embryonic UV-B exposure on the growth and development of plains leopard frog tadpoles (Rana blairi). Conservation Biology. v. 14 p. 1903-1907

Smith, G.R., J.E. Rettig, A.M. Frahm, and P.W. Gabrielson, 2000. Prediction Generation and Testing: An Exercise Using Plant Distributions. Bioscene: Journal of College Biology Teaching. v. 26 no. 3 p. 19-21

Golden*, D., G.R. Smith, and J.E. Rettig, 2000. Effects of age and group size on habitat selection and activity levels of Xenopus laevis tadpoles. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Science. v. 26 p. 23-27

Smith, G.R., J.A. Dilts, P.W. Gabrielson, D.P. Heruth, J.E. Rettig, and A.F. Strautman, 1999. Using laptops in the biology classroom and laboratory. Bioscene: Journal of College Biology Teachinh. v. 25 p. 11-12

Smith, G.R., J. E. Rettig, G.G. Mittelbach, J.L. Valiulis*, and S.R. Schaack*, 1999 . The effects of fish on assemblages of amphibians in ponds: a field experiment. Freshwater Biology. v. 41 p. 829-837

Smith, G.R. and J.E. Rettig, 1998. Observations on egg masses of the American toad (Bufo americanus). Herpetological Natural History. v. 6 p. 61-64

Rettig, J.E. , 1998. Variation in species composition of larval assemblages: using electrophoresis to identify larval sunfish. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. v. 127 p. 661-668

Rettig, J.E., R.C. Fuller, A.L. Corbett, and T. Getty, 1997. Fluctuating asymmetry indicates levels of competition in an even-aged poplar clone. 80. p. 123-127

Smith, G.R. and J.E. Rettig, 1996. Effectiveness of aquatic funnel traps for sampling amphibian larvae. Herpetological Review. v. 27 p. 190-191

Mittelbach, G.G., A.M. Turner, D.J. Hall, J.E. Rettig, and C.W. Osenberg, 1995. Perturbation and resilience: a long-term, whole-lake study of predator extinction and reintroduction. Ecology. v. 76 p. 2347-2360

Presentations

Rettig, J.E. and G.R. Smith, 200. Class research projects in ecology courses: Methods to un-"can" the experience. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America.

Rettig, J.E., J.K. McCloskey*, T.E .Waggoner*, and M.M. Tribue*, 2004 . Patterns of temporal variation for zooplankton and larval fish in two Ohio ponds. Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society.

Rettig, J.E., L.S. Schuman*, and J.K. McCloskey*, 2004 . Seasonal patterns of abundance: Do zooplankton in small ponds do the same thing every summer?. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America.

Rettig, J.E., 2003. Investigating interactions between larval and adult bluegill and their zooplankton prey. Invited research seminar at The Ohio State University.

Smith, G.R., J.E. Rettig, and H.A. Dingfelder* , 2003. Stressor effects on amphibian larval communities: Integrated experiments on the effects of nitrate. Annual Year-end Workshop of the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, US Geological Survey..

Rettig, J.E., 2002. Variation in adult bluegill diets from two ponds with differing macrophyte abundances. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists/Herpetologists' League/Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles meeting.

Hatlelid, E.D.*, G.R. Smith, and J.E. Rettig, 2000. Area usage and daily behavioral patterns of a captive spotted leopard Pantera pardus pardus). Missouri Academy of Sciences [3rd Place - Biology III - Ecology and Behavior].

Taylor, M.T.*, J.E. Rettig, and G.R. Smith, 2000. Habitat selection and diet coposition in Arizona river otters, Lutra canadensis. Missouri Academy of Sciences [1st Place - Biology III - Ecology and Behavior] .

Rettig, J.E., 2000. Performance and success in larval bluegill: the role of resources, predation, and habitat. 24th Annual Larval Fish Conference.

Todd, A.*, G.R. Smith, and J.E. Rettig, 2000. Microhabitat selection by northern cricket frogs, Acris crepitans, along a west-central Missouri creek. Missouri Academy of Sciences [2nd Place - Biology III - Ecology and Behavior].

Smith, G.R., M.A. Waters*, and J.E. Rettig, 1999. Consequences of embryonic UV-B exposure on the growth and development of plains leopard frog tadpoles (Rana blairi). American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists/ Herpetologist's League/Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Meetings.

Dilts, J., G. Smith, J. Rettig, A. Strautman, P. Gabrielson, and D. Heruth, 1998 . Creating a student-driven learning environment. 42nd Annual Meeting of the Association of College and University Biology Educators, Rockhurst College.

Dilts, J., D. Heruth, J. Rettig, and G. Smith, 1998. William Jewell College case study: Creating a student-driven learning environment. Enhancing Learning-Centered Environments: The Biology of the Future. Project Kaleidoscope Workshop.