JH

Jiri Hulcr, Ph. D.
Curriculum Vitae


Research interests

The ambrosia symbiotic complex: interactions between beetles, fungi, bacteria, trees, forests, and people.

What makes the symbiosis between woodboring beetles and their fungal symbionts work? How does the symbiosis cope so well with competing fungi? With global environmental change? And why do some formerly harmless symbionts turin into virulent tree-killers? What role do symbiotic fungi play in the invasion ecology of woodboring insects? How specific is the relationship between the beetles and their symbionts, be they fungi or bacteria? Particularly exciting are the unexlplored tropical woodborers: I discovered unexpected diversity of fungal symbionts of tropical ambrosia beetles (New Guinea, Borneo, Peru). Contrary to the contemporary paradigm, these fungi show little specificity to their beetle associates.

JH Teaching Ecology to young Papua New Guineans.

JH Ambrosia beetle taskforce in cloud forests of New Guinea.

JH Beetle hunt in Guyana, South America, with Anthony Cognato and Sarah Smith. Photo S. Dole.

JH Teaching Entomology at the University of South Bohemia.

JH Bark beetling in the swamps of Peru. Photo Sarah Smith.

JH Parataxonomists dissecting infested wood, New Guinea.

JH Conquering beetles in Ghana, Africa.

Evolution and systematics of the haplo-diploid inbred Xyleborini ambrosia beetles. With the Holistic Insect Systematics Laboratory at MSU I have been working on the generic revision of the subtribe and on revision of several genera.

Geosmithia fungi and their newly discovered association with bark beetle by Miroslav Kolarik. I am collaborating with Miroslav on surveying new localities for this association.

Ecology of tropical bark and ambrosia beetles. In the course of my collaboration with Binatang Research Center I established and managed projects investigating the host specificity, community structure and beta-diversity of tropical bark and ambrosia beetles. The projects rely heavily on collaboration with the local parataxonomists, and are yielding significant datasets.

I maintain collections of lab-reared beetles, their fungal and bacterial symbionts, and other ecologically or phylogenetically relevant fungi, and a cryo-preserved collection of beetles and fungi (over 100,000 samples).

Relationships between the populations of temperate bark beetles, their predators and host trees, with special focus on the palearctic Spruce bark beetle Ips typographus and its semiochemical orientation.

 

Education

2009: Ph.D. in Entomology, Dept. of Entomology, Michigan State University. Major advisor: Prof. A. I. Cognato, PhD.
2008: Ph.D. in Entomology, Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic. Major advisor: Prof. Vojtech Novotny, PhD.
2004-2006: Graduate student at the Dept. of Entomology, Texas A&M University; major advisor: A. I. Cognato.
1997-2004: B.Sc. in Biology, M.Sc. in Entomology at the Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic. Major advisor: Vojtech Novotny.

Professional appointments

2012-present: Assistant Profesor, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida
2010-2012: Dept. of Biology, North Carolina State University; research associate (postdoc).
2010-present: Adjunct curator at the A.J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection at Michigan State University.
2009-2010: Dept. of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison; research associate (postdoc).
2008-2009: Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California - Davis; research affiliate.
2006-2009: Graduate Research Assistant, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
2006: Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea; research associate.
2004-2007: Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of South Bohemia ; research associate; major advisor of an M.Sc. student, lecturer at General Entomology field courses.
2004-2006: Graduate Research Assistant, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
2004-present: Institute of Entomology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice; research associate.
2002:Parataxonomist Training Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea; research station manager.

Publications and presentations here

Funding

USDA Forest Service Cooperative Agreement “On-line interactive key to Xyleborini of North America”, 2011, $27,500.
USDA Cooperative Agreement “Exploring bacterial communities associated with the Southern Pine Beetle complex”, co–PI, collaboration with C. Currie, UW-Madison, 2009, $75,000.
MSU College of Natural Science, Dissertation Completion Fellowship, Spring semester 2009, $6000.
MSU College of Natural Science, Summer Research Fellowship, 2008, $6000.
MSU College of Agriculture, conference travel, February 2007, $200.
MSU Council of Graduate Students Conference Grant. 23 May 2008. $300.
National Geographic Society (coauthored with A. Cognato), "Diversity of ambrosia beetles", 2005, $13,000.
MSU Department of Entomology Hudson grant for student conference travel:
     - October 2009, $400
     - February 2008, $400
     - March 2007, $600
Grant Agency of the University of South Bohemia, Czech Rep., graduate student research grant Host specificity of bark beetles of Papua New Guinea. 2003, $4,300.
Sophia Foundation (Czech Republic), 2003: Semiochemical interactions between bark beetles and their natural enemies, $500.
South Bohemia University, Faculty of Sciences, Student Grant Agency, 2004: Increasing the attractivity of pheromone baits for the Spruce Bark Beetle using host tree terpenoids, $800.

Awards

Dr. R. Dreisbach Memorial award for outstanding achiewement in the PhD program, Department of Entomology, MSU, 2009.
Eugenia McDaniel Teaching Award for excellence, dedication and accomplishment in teaching, Department of Entomology, MSU, 2008.
Student and Young Professional Participation Award, Entomological Society of America, January 22, 2009.

Memberships

Entomological Society of America
Mycological Society of America
J. F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution, UW-Madison
Coleopterists Society
Royal Society SE Asian Rain Forest Research Programme
New Guinea Binatang Research Center

Teaching

Awarded the Eugenia McDaniel Teaching Award by the Department of Entomology, MSU, 2008.
Organized Current Topics in Systematics and Evolution, a graduate seminar ENT 812 and interdepartmental journal club, Dept. of Entomology, MSU, 2006, 2007.
Molecular Evolution, teaching assistant (MSU ZOL 855), 2007.
Principles of Systematics, invited lecture "Phylogenetics and ecology" (MSU ENT 890), 2007.
Evolution, invited lecture "Introduction to systematics" (MSU ZOL 445), 2007.
Invited speaker at the meeting of the Student Entomology Club, University of Texas, Austin, lecture "Scolytidae, the playground of evolution", 2005.
General Field Entomology, South Bohemia University, Faculty of Sciences, 2003 & 2004.

Languages

English, Czech, Neo-Melanesian Pidgin

Updated 2011-05-20