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Patrick D. Lorch

Assistant Professor
Education
  • PhD, Zoology, University of Toronto, 2000
  • MS, Zoology, University of Maryland, 1992
  • BS, Biology, University of Notre Dame, 1986
Courses Taught
  • Organic Evolution
  • Special Topics:  Behavioral Evolution

Research Interests
My research focuses on how natural selection and sexual selection interact. Specifically, I am interested in how natural selection on traits that are closely related to fitness (life history traits) affects the strength of sexual selection and visa versa. To explore how these two kinds of selection interact, I use both lab and field experiments along with theory and computer simulations.       

I am currently studying how nutritional ecology and social interactions affect both insect movement and mating behavior. I am also currently studying whether sexual selection can explain pervasive patterns of sex differences in rates of recombination during meiosis.           

For more detailed and up to date information, see my lab website.
 
Selected Papers (see lab website for more)

Justin L. Reeves, Patrick D. Lorch. 2011. Visual active space of the milfoil weevil, Euhrychiopsis lecontei Dietz (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Journal of Insect Behavior. 24: 264-273.

Robert B. Srygley, Patrick D. Lorch. 2011. Weakness in the band: Nutrient-mediated trade-offs between migration and immunity of Mormon crickets Anabrus simplex. Animal Behaviour. 81: 395-400.

Sepideh Bazazi, C.C. Ioannou, S.J. Simpson, G.A. Sword, C.J. Torney, Patrick D. Lorch, and I.D. Couzin. 2010. The social context of cannibalism in migratory bands of the Mormon cricket. PloS one. 5:e15118.

Justin L. Reeves, Patrick D. Lorch. 2009. Visual plant differentiation by milfoil weevils (Euhrychiopsis lecontei Dietz; Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Journal of Insect Behavior. 22: 473-476.

Robert B. Srygley, Patrick D. Lorch, Stephen J. Simpson and Gregory A. Sword. 2009. Immediate protein dietary effects on movement and the generalized immunocompetence of migrating Mormon crickets Anabrus simplex (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Ecological Entomology. 34: 663-668.

Gregory A. Sword, Patrick D. Lorch and Darryl T. Gwynne. 2008. Radiotelemetric analysis of the effects of wind direction on Mormon cricket migratory band movement. Environmental Entomology. 37(4): 889-896.

Patrick D. Lorch, Luc Bussire and Darryl T. Gwynne. 2008. Quantifying the potential for sexual dimorphism using upper the limits on Bateman slopes. Behaviour.

Patrick D. Lorch and Maria R. Servedio. 2007. The evolution of conspecific gamete precedence and its effect on reinforcement. Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

Stephen J. Simpson, Gregory A. Sword, Patrick D. Lorch and Ian D. Couzin. 2006. Cannibal crickets on a forced march for protein and salt. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103: 4152-4156.

Patrick D. Lorch, Gregory A. Sword, Darryl T. Gwynne and Gerald A. Anderson. 2005. Radiotelemetry reveals differences in individual movement patterns between outbreak and non-outbreak Mormon cricket populations. Ecological Entomology. 30: 548-555.

Patrick D. Lorch and Maria R. Servedio. 2005. Postmating-prezygotic isolation is not an important source of selection for reinforcement within and between species in Drosophila pseudoobscura and D. persimilis. Evolution. 59 (5): 1039-1045.

Patrick D. Lorch. 2005. Sex differences in recombination and mapping adaptations. Genetica. 123 (1-2): 39-47. (Also reprinted in The Genetics of Adaptation. 2005 Rodney Mauricio, editor. Kluwer, Dordrecht.)

Gregory A. Sword, Patrick D. Lorch and Darryl T. Gwynne. 2005. Migratory bands give crickets protection. Nature. 433: 703.

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities
Research Areas
  • Behavioral and evolutionary ecology of insect mating behavior, group formation, movement, and sexual selection.
  • Evolution of sex differences in meiotic recombination rates.
Patrick D. Lorch
OFFICE
Department of Biological Sciences
Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Sustainability
CONTACT INFO
Phone: 330-672-7888
plorch@kent.edu
COURSES TEACHING
Spring 2013
  • BSCI 10002 - 002 Life On Planet Earth
  • BSCI 30005 - 003 Career Pathways In Biology
  • BSCI 40196 - 027 Individual Investigation
  • BSCI 60198 - 013 Research
  • BSCI 60299 - 007 Thesis Ii
  • BSCI 80198 - 012 Research
Summer 2013
  • BSCI 60198 - 028 Research
  • BSCI 60299 - 019 Thesis Ii
  • BSCI 80198 - 025 Research
Fall 2013
  • BSCI 10002 - 002 Life On Planet Earth
  • BSCI 40163 - 001 Organic Evolution
  • BSCI 40196 - 004 Individual Investigation
  • BSCI 40600 - 010 Writing In Biological Sciences
  • BSCI 50163 - 001 Evolution
  • BSCI 60198 - 009 Research
  • BSCI 60299 - 009 Thesis Ii
  • BSCI 70163 - 001 Organic Evolution
  • BSCI 70196 - 002 Individual Investigation
  • BSCI 80198 - 015 Research
EXPERTISE
  • Faculty Advisor
  • sexual selection
  • recombination
  • swarm
  • evolution