Dr. Amy Dunham
Welcome to our group at Rice University!
Department of Biosciences, Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Department of Biosciences, Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Collectively, we are a group of ecologists interested in tropical ecology and conservation biology. Our work focuses on evolutionary, population, and community ecology and is often applied to conservation issues in tropical rainforests.
Much of our current research is conducted in Madagascar, but team members have also worked in Gabon, Cameroon, Ecuador, and Peru.
As tropical community ecologists, our interests have focused primarily on the interactions of species in complex tropical forests, especially in relation to anthropogenic disturbances. A large focus in recent work has been understanding the ecosystem processes influenced by vertebrates in hyperdiverse tree communities, as well as how those processes are altered by extinction and invasion. This work includes questions related to seed dispersal, disturbance, trophic cascades, carbon storage, and soil processes. Recent and ongoing work has also examined the roles of parasitic plants, particularly mistletoes, in structuring species interactions and community dynamics in diverse tropical forests.
We welcome community members from diverse backgrounds and experiences including different socioeconomic backgrounds, races, ethnicities, countries of origin, gender identities and sexualities, religions, and disabilities.
Much of our current research is conducted in Madagascar, but team members have also worked in Gabon, Cameroon, Ecuador, and Peru.
As tropical community ecologists, our interests have focused primarily on the interactions of species in complex tropical forests, especially in relation to anthropogenic disturbances. A large focus in recent work has been understanding the ecosystem processes influenced by vertebrates in hyperdiverse tree communities, as well as how those processes are altered by extinction and invasion. This work includes questions related to seed dispersal, disturbance, trophic cascades, carbon storage, and soil processes. Recent and ongoing work has also examined the roles of parasitic plants, particularly mistletoes, in structuring species interactions and community dynamics in diverse tropical forests.
We welcome community members from diverse backgrounds and experiences including different socioeconomic backgrounds, races, ethnicities, countries of origin, gender identities and sexualities, religions, and disabilities.
DUNHAM LAB NEWS
August 2026 - We are excited to welcome Brendan Cohen, a Fulbright Scholar from Australia, to the lab as a new M.S. student!
August 2026 - Congratulations to Eric Wuesthoff for officially completing his PhD and starting a new job as an Assistant Professor at Austin College
August 2026 - Congratulations to Camille DeSisto on her appointment as a Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) Fellow at Harvard University!
July 2026 - A paper led by Zo Fenosoa on mistletoe frugivory and dispersal in Madagascar was accepted by Biotropica and provides the first detailed assessment of bird and lemur frugivory and seed dispersal of mistletoes in Madagascar's rainforests. Congrats Fenosoa!
June 2026- Congratulations to Malagasy student collaborators- Gérard Razafinandrasana and Bien Luc Rafalimanantena on their ATBC Research seed grant to study the impacts of invasive guava on Madagascar's rainforests!
May 2026- Congratulations to undergraduate researcher Maddie Jeffery on earning the 2026 Moody Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation at Rice University's NSURS for her research on Madagascar chameleon thermoregulation.
March 2026- Our work on the influence of invasive strawberry guava on Madagascar's rainforests was featured in the New York Times and Mongabay!
February 2026- Camille DeSisto left for Madagascar on the 24th to start a bioacoustics project in vanilla agroforestry plots to better understand their conservation value. She will also be starting as a HUCE Environmental Fellow at Harvard in the fall!!
January 2026- Newly accepted Biological Conservation paper with Dr. Matt McCary documents how invasive strawberry guava alters forest recovery, invertebrate communities, and soil processes in Madagascar. Learn more here.
October 2025- Our work on lemur movement and seed dispersal led by Dr Jade Tonos (former group member) was published in Functional Ecology
July 2025- Dr. Camille DeSisto joined our group as a Sustainability Institute Postdoctoral Fellow! Welcome Camille!
March 2025- Congrats to Julieanne Montaquila on her Garden Club of America Tropical Botany Fellowship to study the ecology of endemic mistletoes in Madagascar!
February 2025 Eric Wuesthoff spotlighted by Rice University's Sustainability Institute
August 2026 - Congratulations to Eric Wuesthoff for officially completing his PhD and starting a new job as an Assistant Professor at Austin College
August 2026 - Congratulations to Camille DeSisto on her appointment as a Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) Fellow at Harvard University!
July 2026 - A paper led by Zo Fenosoa on mistletoe frugivory and dispersal in Madagascar was accepted by Biotropica and provides the first detailed assessment of bird and lemur frugivory and seed dispersal of mistletoes in Madagascar's rainforests. Congrats Fenosoa!
June 2026- Congratulations to Malagasy student collaborators- Gérard Razafinandrasana and Bien Luc Rafalimanantena on their ATBC Research seed grant to study the impacts of invasive guava on Madagascar's rainforests!
May 2026- Congratulations to undergraduate researcher Maddie Jeffery on earning the 2026 Moody Award for Outstanding Poster Presentation at Rice University's NSURS for her research on Madagascar chameleon thermoregulation.
March 2026- Our work on the influence of invasive strawberry guava on Madagascar's rainforests was featured in the New York Times and Mongabay!
February 2026- Camille DeSisto left for Madagascar on the 24th to start a bioacoustics project in vanilla agroforestry plots to better understand their conservation value. She will also be starting as a HUCE Environmental Fellow at Harvard in the fall!!
January 2026- Newly accepted Biological Conservation paper with Dr. Matt McCary documents how invasive strawberry guava alters forest recovery, invertebrate communities, and soil processes in Madagascar. Learn more here.
October 2025- Our work on lemur movement and seed dispersal led by Dr Jade Tonos (former group member) was published in Functional Ecology
July 2025- Dr. Camille DeSisto joined our group as a Sustainability Institute Postdoctoral Fellow! Welcome Camille!
March 2025- Congrats to Julieanne Montaquila on her Garden Club of America Tropical Botany Fellowship to study the ecology of endemic mistletoes in Madagascar!
February 2025 Eric Wuesthoff spotlighted by Rice University's Sustainability Institute
