Education:

2002 - BS in Marine Science and Biology at The University
             of Tampa
2005 - MS in Entomology at The University of Florida,    
            Advisor: Dr. James P. Cuda
2006 – Present - Ph.D. Student at The University of
             Florida, Advisor: Dr. Daniel A. Hahn

Research Interests:
I am generally interested life history evolution and the mechanisms behind evolution.  For my Ph.D. research, I am focusing on nutrient allocation in reproduction and diapause in the flesh fly, Sarcophaga crassipalpis.  I am interested in the allocation of broad classes of macromolecules, but I have a keen interest in lipids.  I approach my research from a metabloic standpoint, looking at the model from many different levels.  I am currently working on tracking macromolecules using stable isotopes.   In the near future, I hope to investigate metabolism during diapause with our new Sable Systems respirometry setup, once all of the bugs are worked out of course (pun intended).

My Master's work focused on the biological control of invasive weeds in Florida. I evaluated the host specificity of a potential biological control agent for the invasive strawberry guava, Psidium cattleianum. Download the paper here.

Outside of the Lab:
When I am not chained to my desk, I like to explore and enjoy the wonderful ecosystems and flora/fauna of this state.  I recently wrapped up my nine-month foray into boatbuilding, completing my 15’ cedar strip canoe.  If you have some spare time you can see the whole process on my blog frankscanoe.blogspot.com.