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
March 2026- Our work on the influence of invasive strawberry guava on forest recovery, invertebrate communities, and soil processes in Madagascar was featured in the New York Times!
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.
December 2025- Lab member, Eric Wuesthoff, accepted a job as Assistant Professor at Austin College! Congratulations Eric!
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
January 2025- Our Malagasy collaborator, and Phd student at U. Antananarivo, Zo Fenosoa, led a new paper on the role of lemur gut passage on mistletoe seed germination in Madagascar !
December 2024- Eric Wuesthoff wins outstanding talk award for his presentation at the EEB Graduate Student Symposium.
December 2024- A new paper lead by former lab member, Dr. Jadelys Tonos is now out in Functional Ecology about how movement and foraging decisions frugivores make determine patterns of seed dispersal.
December 2024- Former lab member, Dr Therese Lamperty's final dissertation chapter was published in the journal, Molecular Ecology about the effects of loosing large frugivores through defaunation on genetic spatial structure of seedlings.
October 2024 Former lab member, Dr. Onja Razafindratsima, will receive Rice's School of Natural Sciences Alumni Excellence Award! See article here!
August 2024- Former lab member, Dr. Jadelys Tonos, just started a job as an assistant professor at San Francisco State University
August 2024- Eric Wuesthoff was awarded an NSF INTERN award for a collaborative internship with the Houston Zoo and their partners in Madagascar. (a first at Rice!)
March 2024- Julieanne Montaquila received a grant from The Dr. Abigail Ross Foundation for Applied Conservation to fund her work 'Exploring the Role of Canopy-dwelling Parasitic Mistletoes in the Regeneration and Biodiversity of a Malagasy Rainforest'
March 2024- Eric Wuesthoff was recognized with a School of Natural Sciences Graduate Teaching Award and the 2024 Biosciences Leadership Award for his service to the university and department.
February 2024- Congratulations to undergraduate researchers, Bell Scherick and Brendan O'Loughlin on their Wagoner Awards for international research in Madagascar!
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.
December 2025- Lab member, Eric Wuesthoff, accepted a job as Assistant Professor at Austin College! Congratulations Eric!
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
January 2025- Our Malagasy collaborator, and Phd student at U. Antananarivo, Zo Fenosoa, led a new paper on the role of lemur gut passage on mistletoe seed germination in Madagascar !
December 2024- Eric Wuesthoff wins outstanding talk award for his presentation at the EEB Graduate Student Symposium.
December 2024- A new paper lead by former lab member, Dr. Jadelys Tonos is now out in Functional Ecology about how movement and foraging decisions frugivores make determine patterns of seed dispersal.
December 2024- Former lab member, Dr Therese Lamperty's final dissertation chapter was published in the journal, Molecular Ecology about the effects of loosing large frugivores through defaunation on genetic spatial structure of seedlings.
October 2024 Former lab member, Dr. Onja Razafindratsima, will receive Rice's School of Natural Sciences Alumni Excellence Award! See article here!
August 2024- Former lab member, Dr. Jadelys Tonos, just started a job as an assistant professor at San Francisco State University
August 2024- Eric Wuesthoff was awarded an NSF INTERN award for a collaborative internship with the Houston Zoo and their partners in Madagascar. (a first at Rice!)
March 2024- Julieanne Montaquila received a grant from The Dr. Abigail Ross Foundation for Applied Conservation to fund her work 'Exploring the Role of Canopy-dwelling Parasitic Mistletoes in the Regeneration and Biodiversity of a Malagasy Rainforest'
March 2024- Eric Wuesthoff was recognized with a School of Natural Sciences Graduate Teaching Award and the 2024 Biosciences Leadership Award for his service to the university and department.
February 2024- Congratulations to undergraduate researchers, Bell Scherick and Brendan O'Loughlin on their Wagoner Awards for international research in Madagascar!
