CARLA J. ESSENBERG
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona
BSW 310, PO Box 210088, Tucson, AZ 85721-0088
520-626-9012, essenberg@email.arizona.edu
Website: www.carlaessenberg.com
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, University of California-Riverside, 2012.
Advisor: John Rotenberry.
Thesis title: Understanding the effects of floral density on visitation rates and species composition of
flower visitors.
B.A., Philosophy and Music, St. Olaf College, May 2001, summa cum laude.
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Postdoctoral Excellence in Research and Teaching Program, Center
for Insect Science, University of Arizona, July 2012-Present.
Advisor: Dan Papaj.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research focuses on how foraging behavior shapes plant-pollinator interactions. For my doctoral
dissertation, I used a combination of modeling and field studies to identify causes of variation in the
effects of flower density on flower visitation. My findings will aid plant conservation efforts by
making it easier to predict when plant species will suffer declines in reproductive success at low
densities. My postdoctoral work uses a laboratory system to investigate bumblebee foraging behavior.
Projects include a study of bees’ ability to detect and respond to spatial patterns in nectar availability
and an experiment testing whether bees prefer plants whose flowers offer them information about the
quality of their rewards. My results will make it easier to predict pollinators’ movement patterns and
floral preferences, both of which strongly influence plant reproductive success, and will inform our
understanding of selective pressures on plants to provide rewards and information to their pollinators.
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Postdoctoral Excellence in Research and Teaching Fellowship, University
of Arizona, 2012-2015
~$140,000
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2007-2012
$120,000
Newell Award, University of California-Riverside, 2010
$250
Dissertation Research Grants, University of California-Riverside, 2009, 2010
$800
Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant, University of California, 2009
$1,400
Janet M. Boyce Memorial Scholarship, University of California-Riverside, 2009
$500
Chancellor’s Distinguished Fellowship Award, University of California-Riverside,
2006-2007
$47,727
Carla J. Essenberg, Curriculum vitae
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PUBLICATIONS (* indicates authors who were undergraduate students when the work was done)
Essenberg, C. J. 2015. Flobots: Robotic flowers for bee behaviour experiments. Journal of
Pollination Ecology 15(1): 1-5.
Essenberg, C. J. 2013. Explaining the effects of floral density on flower visitor species composition.
American Naturalist 181(3): 344-356.
Essenberg, C. J. 2013. Scale-dependent shifts in the species composition of flower visitors with
changing floral density. Oecologia 171(1): 187-196.
Essenberg, C. J. 2012. Explaining variation in the effect of floral density on pollinator visitation.
American Naturalist 180(2): 153-166.
Sachs, J. L., C. J. Essenberg, and M. M. Turcotte. 2011. New paradigms for the evolution of
beneficial infections. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 26(4): 202-209.
Manuscripts in review/preparation:
Essenberg, C. J., R. A. Easter*, R. A. Simmons*, and D. R. Papaj. In revision. The value of
information in floral cues: Bumblebee learning of informative and uninformative size cues.
Behavioral Ecology.
Essenberg, C. J. and D. R. Papaj. Bumblebee patch departure at two spatial scales.
Papaj, D. R., A. S. Leonard, A. Dornhaus, and C. J. Essenberg. Speed-accuracy tradeoffs and nectarforaging in bees: Merging neuroeconomics with optimality theory.
PRESENTATIONS (* indicates authors who were undergraduate students when the work was done)
Invited presentations:
Essenberg, C. J. and D. R. Papaj. 2014. Bumblebee patch departure decisions at two spatial scales.
Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America, Tucson, AZ.
Essenberg, C. J. 2012. Scale-dependence of pollinator responses to floral resource density. UC
Natural Reserve System Mathias Symposium, Bodega Bay, CA.
Contributed presentations:
Essenberg, C. J., R. A. Easter*, R. A. Simmons*, K. R. Benzing*, A. M. McKay*, and D. R. Papaj.
2014. Do bees prefer flowers with informative cues indicating rewards? Animal Behavior Society,
Princeton, NJ.
Essenberg, C. J. and D. R. Papaj. 2013. Do bumblebees match their foraging movements to the scale
of resource patchiness? 2nd International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy,
University Park, PA. (Poster)
Essenberg, C. J., D. R. Papaj. 2013. Do bumblebees match their foraging movements to the scale of
resource patchiness? Animal Behavior Society, Boulder, CO. (Poster)
Essenberg, C. J. 2012. Predicting the effects of flower density on pollinator species composition.
Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR.
Essenberg, C. J. 2011. Scale-dependence of pollinator responses to floral resource density.
Ecological Society of America, Austin, TX.
Essenberg, C. J. 2011. Explaining variation in pollinator responses to flower density: nonlinear
effects and scale-dependence. ICPBR Pollination Symposium, Cholula, Mexico. (Poster)
Essenberg, C. J. 2010. Modeling pollinator responses to flower density. Animal Behavior Society,
Williamsburg, VA.
Carla J. Essenberg, Curriculum vitae
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TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
I teach because I believe that teaching matters: enriching students’ world views and guiding them as
they improve their abilities to think, to learn, and to communicate is deeply rewarding. The main
principles that guide my teaching are: focus on fundamental concepts and skills, make all teaching
decisions based on the learning outcomes I want students to achieve, keep students active in the
classroom, and constantly review the effectiveness of my teaching and improve my methods.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING
Postdoctoral Excellence in Research and Teaching (PERT) fellow, July 2012-Present.
Outstanding Teaching Assistant award, University of California-Riverside, 2011-12.
University-level classroom teaching experience:
Adjunct Instructor, Environmental Biology, Pima Community College, Spring 2014.
Guest Lecturer:
Environmental Biology, Pima Community College, Nov. 2013.
Animal Behavior, University of Arizona, Oct. 2012.
Analysis of Ecological Communities, University of California-Riverside, Winter 2010.
Teaching Assistant, University of California-Riverside:
Animal Behavior Discussion Sections, Spring 2011.
Introduction to Organismal Biology Laboratory, Winter 2009, Winter 2011.
Introductory Evolution and Ecology Laboratory, Spring 2009, Fall 2010.
Teaching Assistant, Zoology and Animal Diversity Laboratories, University of Minnesota, Fall 2004 Spring 2006.
Conversation Leader, English Language Institute, Oklahoma State University, June – July 2001.
Mentoring relationships:
Two undergraduate students during their first year of college, University of Arizona, Fall 2013–
present.
Five undergraduate students doing independent research projects for academic credit and eight
additional undergraduate students that I trained to assist with laboratory-based animal behavior
experiments, University of Arizona, Fall 2012-Present.
Eleven undergraduate students doing library research for honors introductory biology, University of
Arizona, Oct.-Nov. 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Ten undergraduate students seeking career advice through the St. Olaf College Career Network, Feb.
2012 and Jan.-Feb. 2013.
Five recent college graduates that I trained to assist with pollination field research, summers of 2009
and 2010.
Two undergraduate students that I tutored in music and philosophy coursework, Saint Olaf College,
April 1998-May 1999.
K-12 teaching and outreach:
98+ hours of K-12 outreach and mentoring activities, including classroom presentations, booths at
science festivals, science fair judging, and advising students about science fair projects, January
2010 – Present.
Educational Assistant, Future Force AmeriCorps, St. Paul, MN, Fall 2001-Summer 2002.
Carla J. Essenberg, Curriculum vitae
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Professional development in teaching and outreach
Organizer of a science teaching reading group, University of Arizona, Oct. 2013-Present.
An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching, an NSF-funded MOOC offered
through Coursera by the CIRTL network, Oct.-Nov. 2014.
Attended the annual meeting of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, Eugene, OR, June
2014.
Attended National Institutes of Health Institutional Research and Academic Career Development
Award (IRACDA) Conferences, which include numerous workshops on science pedagogy and
outreach, June 2013 and June 2014.
Pedagogy workshops offered by the University of Arizona Center for Insect Science PERT program,
Feb. 14-15, 2013 and Mar. 14, 2014.
Audited Teaching in Plant-Microbe Interactions, a graduate-level course, University of Arizona, Fall
2012.
Science Advocacy, a graduate-level course, University of California-Riverside, Spring 2012.
Philosophy and Pedagogy of Teaching Undergraduate Life Sciences, a graduate-level course,
University of California-Riverside, Fall 2010.
Teaching assistant training offered by the Teaching Assistant Development Program, University of
California-Riverside, Fall 2008.
August Teaching Enrichment Series, a set of teaching workshops offered by the Center for Teaching
and Learning, University of Minnesota, Aug. 2005.
INSTITUTIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Reviewer for: Ecology, New Phytologist, American Naturalist, Behavioral Ecology, Annals of
Botany, Ecoscience, Oecologia, Environmental Entomology, Agricultural and Forest Entomology,
Journal of Insect Behavior
Institutional Service:
PERT Advisory Board, University of Arizona, Jan. 2014-present.
PERT Selection Committee, University of Arizona, Dec. 2012-Feb. 2013.
UC-Riverside Graduate Student Council, Representative for the Evolution, Ecology and Organismal
Biology graduate program, July 2010-June 2012.
President of the Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology Graduate Student Association, UCRiverside, July 2009-June 2010.
UC-Riverside Community Engagement Strategic Planning Committee, October 2009-February 2010.
Co-organizer of graduate student seminar series for the Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
program, Spring Quarter 2009.
Professional Society Memberships:
Ecological Society of America, Animal Behavior Society, Botanical Society of America, Society for
Conservation Biology, American Society of Naturalists, Association for Biology Laboratory Education
Carla J. Essenberg, Curriculum vitae
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