Jennifer Hamel
Associate Professor of Biology and Associate Director of Undergraduate Research
Department: Biology
Email: jhamel2@elon.edu
Phone number: (336) 278-5577
Professional Expertise
Links
News & Notes
Education
2011, Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, University of Missouri. Dissertation: Communication about Predation Risk between Parents and Offspring Groups in Treehoppers. Advisor: Rex Cocroft. Graduate certificate in Science Outreach.
2003 – 2005, Post-Baccalaureate coursework and research, University of North Carolina at Asheville. Research mentors: Tim Forrest, Jim Petranka, and Kitti Reynolds.
2004, B.H.A. in Art and Russian Studies, Carnegie Mellon University
Employment History
2020 – Present, Associate Professor, Elon University, Department of Biology
2014 – 2020, Assistant Professor, Elon University, Department of Biology
2012 – 2014, Postdoctoral Associate, University of Florida, Entomology and Nematology Department
Courses Taught
Department of Biology, Elon University
Biodiversity (BIO 131, lecture/lab)
Population Biology (BIO 212, lecture)
Population Biology (BIO 214, lab)
Introductory Seminar (BIO 261, seminar)
Field Biology Panama (BIO 335, lecture/lab)
Invertebrate Zoology (BIO 371, lecture)
Animal Behavior (BIO 331/331L, lecture/lab)
Leadership Positions
2022 – Present, Associate Director, Undergraduate Research Program
2020 – 2022, Interim Associate Director, Undergraduate Research Program
Research
- The influence of community interactions on the evolution of behavior
- The ecology and evolution of vibrational communication
- Potential benefits of classroom-based research
Grants Awarded
2021, Burroughs Wellcome Fund SSEP: Elon Explorers. PIs: Mark Enfield, Jennifer Hamel. ($145,570)
2021, National Science Foundation S-STEM. Supporting Undergraduates from Community College to Excel and Succeed in STEM (SUCCESS). PIs: Sirena Hargrove-Leak, Jennifer Hamel, Debra McCusker, Jessica Merricks, Gabie Smith. ($142,238)
2018, National Geographic / Microsoft AI for Earth. The new buzz: AI-powered acoustic monitoring of insect communities to advance conservation of tropical rainforests. PIs: Holger Klinck, Laurel Symes, Shyam Madhusudhana, Hannah ter Hofstede, Rachel Page, Jennifer A. Hamel. ($109,787)
Publications
Journal Articles (* denotes undergraduate researcher)
Greenway G, Hamel JA, and Miller CW. (2022) A tangled web: comparing inter- and intraspecific mating dynamics in Anasa squash bugs. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 35(1):91-99. doi: 10.1111/jeb.13965
Vandermaas-Peeler M, Hall E, Ketcham C, Allocco AL, Idriss M, Hamel JA, Marshall DJ. (2022) An ecological model of mentoring undergraduate research in global contexts. Mentoring and Tutoring. doi: 10.1080/13611267.2022.2031084
Hamel JA‡, ter Hofstede HM‡, Gauthier A, Lopatto D, Merton P, and D Vandermast. (‡ Contributed equally) (2021) Undergraduate research abroad: Shared themes in student learning from two models of undergraduate research in field biology study abroad courses. Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research. 5:39-52. doi: 10.18833/spur/5/1/11
Greenway G, Hamel JA, and Miller CW. (2021) Exploring the effects of extreme polyandry on sexual selection and male reproductive success. Behavioral Ecology. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arab081
Sears M*, Barbosa F, and JA Hamel. (2020) Prolonged and variable copulation durations in a promiscuous insect species: no evidence of reproductive benefits for females. Behavioral Processes. DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104189
Hamel JA and RB Cocroft. (2019) Maternal vibrational signals reduce the risk of attracting eavesdropping predators. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 7:204. DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00204
Hamel JA, Eskeland EE*, Lehmann T*, and PL Stover*. (2018) Reproductive costs for hybridizing female Anasa tristis (Hemiptera: Coreidae), but no evidence of selection against interspecific mating. Journal of Insect Science. 18 (4) 17:1-7. DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/iey080
JA Hamel, SA Nease*, and CW Miller. (2015) Male mate choice and female receptivity lead to reproductive interference. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1907-z
Miller, CW, JA Hamel, KD Holmes, WL Helmey-Hartman, and D Lopatto. (2013) Expanding your research team: learning gains when a laboratory partners with a classroom. BioScience 63(9):754-762. DOI: 10.1525/bio.2013.63.9.11
Hamel JA and RB Cocroft. (2012) Functions and benefits of negative feedback in collectively signaling treehoppers. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 279:3820-3826.
Hamel, JA. (2009) Anaxyrus americanus. (American toad). Egg cannibalism. Herpetological Review. 40 (1):67-68.
Petranka JW, EM Harp, CT Holbrook, & JA Hamel. (2007) Long-term persistence of amphibian populations in a restored wetland complex. Biological Conservation. 138: 371–380.
Reynolds BC, J Hamel, Isbanioly J, Klausman L & KK Moorhead. (2007) From forest to fen: Microarthropod abundance and litter decomposition in a Southern Appalachian floodplain/fen complex (USA). Pedobiologica. 51: 273–280.
Academic Book Chapters
S Madhusudhana, G Pavan, LA Miller, WL Gannon, A Hawkins, C Erbe, JA Hamel, JA Thomas. (Forthcoming) Chapter 2: Choosing Recording Equipment. In: Exploring Animal Behavior through Sound. Springer International Publishing AG.
RB Cocroft, JA Hamel, Q Su, and J Gibson. (2014) Playback of animal vibrational signals. In: Vibrational Communication in Arthropods. Eds. RB Cocroft, M Gogala, A Wessel, Springer.
Cocroft, RB and JA Hamel. (2010) Vibrational communication in the “other” social insects: a diversity of ecology, signals, and signal functions. In: The Use of Vibrations in Communication: Properties, Mechanisms and Function across Taxa. Ed. CE O’Connell-Rodwell, Research Signpost.
Popular Press
Tim Forrest and Jen Hamel. (2016) Bug Camp: Where Every Day Is an Adventure. Ed. D Cusick, Quarto Publishing.
Presentations
Recent Invited Seminars (* denotes presenting author)
2018 "Causes and consequences of reproductive interference between two closely-related insect species," JA Hamel*. Department of Biology Seminar Series, University of North Carolina, Asheville.2017 "A community approach to insect behavior," JA Hamel*.
Cramer Seminar Series, Dartmouth College, Hanover.
Department of Biology Seminar Series, University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
Department of Biology Seminar Series, Winthrop University.
Bambi Seminar Series, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Barro Colorado Island, Panama.
2016 "A community approach to studying mating behavior in insects," JA Hamel*. Department of Biology Seminar Series, Appalachian State Unviersity.
"Causes and consequences of reproductive interference between two closely-related insect species," JA Hamel* & CW Miller. Reproductive Interference and Its Applications Symposium, International Congress of Entomology, Orlando, FL.
2015 "Across-species mating can be driven by male mate preferences," CW Miller* & JA Hamel.
Heteropterist Organized Meeting, Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN.
Behaviour 2015, Cairns, Australia.
Recent Contributed Presentations
2019 “Elon Explorers: Citizen science meets multimedia communication,” co-presented by M Enfield, JA Hamel, 2019 North Carolina Science Teachers Association Professional Development Institute,
Winston-Salem, NC
2019 “A comparative study of airborne and vibrational signaling in neotropical katydids,” JA Hamel, A Iwan*, C Kernan, S Martinson, L Symes, & H ter Hofstede, Behaviour 2019, joint meeting of the Animal Behavior Society and the International Conference on Ethology, Chicago, IL (poster)
2019 “How does mate assortment influence sexual selection for extreme polyandry?” G Greenway, JA Hamel, CW Miller, Behaviour 2019, joint meeting of the Animal Behavior Society and the International Conference on Ethology, Chicago, IL (presented by G Greenway)
2019 “A Tangled Web: Why do Some Individuals Mate with the Wrong Species?” G Greenway, JA Hamel, CW Miller, Evolution Annual Meeting, Providence, RI (presented by G Greenway)
2019 “Flexible signaling strategies in a Neotropical katydid,” C Kernan, JA Hamel, A Iwan, A Litterer, S Martinson, L Symes, H ter Hofstede, The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Annual Interns & Fellows Symposium, Panama City, Panama (poster, presented by C Kernan)
2019 “A Tangled Web: Why do Some Individuals Mate with the Wrong Species?” G Greenway, JA Hamel, CW Miller, Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL (presented by G Greenway)
2018 “Calling, courtship, and postmating tremulations in a Neotropical katydid,” C Kernan, JA Hamel, A Iwan, H ter Hofstede, The 2nd International Symposium on Biotremology, Riva del Garda, Italy (poster, presented by C Kernan)
2018 “Hybridization between two insect species: ecology, behavior, and consequences,” JA Hamel, Annual Meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Milwaukee, WI
2017 “Ecology, behavior, and the consequences of hybridization between two insect species,” JA Hamel, Annual Meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Toronto, ON (poster)
2016 “Causes and consequences of reproductive interference between two closely-related insect species,” JA Hamel, Annual Meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Columbia, MO
2016 “Exploring uses and benefits of Classroom-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs),” round table discussion facilitated by E Bauer, J Hamel,
S Hargrove-Leak, A Overman, C Richardson, J Uno, CEL Conference on Excellent Practices in Mentoring Undergraduate Research, Elon, NC
Professional Activities
Ongoing: Reviewer for Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Animal Behaviour, Animal Ecology, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Behaviour, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Bulletin of Entomological Research, Current Biology, Ethology, Florida Entomologist, Herpetologica, Journal of Ethology, Journal of Natural History, Naturwissenschaften, Springer International Publishing
2022 – present: Animal Behavior Society (national society), Diversity Committee Chair
2021: NSF Panel reviewer, Rules of Life Program
2020: Ad Hoc reviewer for NSF Biological Sciences, Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS)
2020 – present: Animal Behavior Society (national society), co-chair of the Charles H. Turner program for undergraduate researchers
2019 - present: Biotremology, Scientific Committee
2017 - present: Animal Behavior Society, Diversity Committee
2017 - 2018: Preparing Future Faculty Mentor
Animal Behavior Society, Association of Southeastern Biologists, North Carolina Academy of Sciences, Sigma Xi
Service Activities
2022 – Present: Mentoring Initiatives Design Team member
2022 – 2023: QEP Implementation Committee member
2018 – 2022: Peace Corps Prep Program, Co-Advisor for Environment and Agriculture
2016 – 2021: Academic Support and Advising, Advisory Committee member
2021: Co-chair, Elon QEP Steering Committee
2020 – 2021: Co-chair, Working Group on Course-embedded Research at Elon
2018 – 2020: National and International Fellowships Advisory Committee member2017 – 2019: Environmental Advisory Council member
2017 – 2019: Residential Life, Sustainability LLC Faculty Advisor
Awards
2021 Japheth E. Rawls Professorship of Undergraduate Research in Science
2020 Elon College of Arts and Sciences, Excellence in Mentoring Award
2019 Sigma Xi, elected to full membership
2012 Warner Clyde Allee Award Finalist, Animal Behavior Society
2011 Teaching Assistant Choice Award (nominated), Missouri Student Association
2007 – 2010 U.S. Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Fellowship