John Banks, Ph.D.

Using a mixture of field experiments and mathematical models, I have been exploring issues associated with the interplay of managed and natural ecosystems for the past two decades. Most of my research deals with ways of improving both agricultural production/practices and the conservation of biological diversity; I am particularly interested in how vegetation diversity and structure affects organisms. Recent international fieldwork projects include forest succession and insect diversity in Yucatan, sustainable coffee production and biodiversity in Costa Rica, and the ecological interactions of birds, arthropods, and elephants in the dry tropical forests of coastal Kenya. I teach courses in biology, ecology and entomology in the Environmental Science/Studies offerings in Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, and currently serve as the Director of both the Office of Undergraduate Education and the Office of International Programs at UW Tacoma.

Selected Publications:

• Banks, J.E., Hannon, L., Hanson, P., Dietsch, T., Castro, S., Urena, N., and M. Chandler. 2013. Effects of proximity to forest habitat on hymenoptera diversity in a Costa Rican coffee agroecosystem. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 89(1): 60-68.
• Banks, J.E., Jackson, C.M., Baya, A., Minella, H.*, Nitz, M.*, Hitchcock, J.*, and D. Bruinsma. 2012. Forest type preference of an Afrotropical thrush (East Coast Akalat, Sheppardia gunningi sokokensis) in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya. Ostrich 83(2): 105-108.
• Banks, J.E., Stark, J.D., Vargas, R., and A.S. Ackleh. 2011. Parasitoids and ecological risk assessment: Can toxicity data developed for one species be used to protect an entire guild? Biological Control 59: 336-339.
• Banks, J.E., Cline, E.T., Castro, S., Urena, N., Nichols, K., Hannon, L., Singer, R., and Chandler, M. 2011. Effects of synthetic fertilizer on coffee yields and ecosystem services: soil glomalin and parasitoids in a Costa Rican coffee agroecosystem. Journal of Crop Improvement 25: 650-663.
• Banks, J.E., Jackson, C., Hannon*, L.M., Thomas*, C.M., Baya, A., and L. Njoruge. 2010. The cascading effects of elephant presence/absence on arthropods and an Afrotropical thrush in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, kenya. African Journal of Ecology 48(4): 1030-1038.
• Banks, J.E., Ackleh, A.S., and J.D. Stark. 2010. The use of surrogate species in risk assessment: using life history data to safeguard against false negatives. Risk Analysis 30: 175-182.
• Banks, J.E., Bommarco, R., and B. Ekbom. 2008. Population response to resource separation in conservation biological control. Biological Control 47: 141-146.
• Banks, J.E., Dick, L.K., Banks, H.T., and J.D. Stark. 2008. Time-varying vital rates in ecotoxicology: selective pesticides and aphid population dynamics. Ecological Modelling 210: 155-160.
• Banks, J.E., Sandvik, P.J.*, and L. Keesecker*. 2007. Beetle (Coleoptera) and spider (Araneae) diversity in a mosaic of farmland, edge, and tropical forest habitats in western Costa Rica. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 83(2) 152-160.
• Gold, W., Ewing, K., Banks, J.E., Groom, M., Hinckley, T., Secord, D., and D. Shebitz. 2006. Community collaborations: collaborative ecological restoration. Science 312 (5782): 1880-1881.
• Banks, J.E. 2004. Divided culture: integrating agriculture and conservation biology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2(10): 537-545.
• Stark, J.D., Banks, J.E., and R. Vargas. 2004. How risky is risk assessment? The role that life history strategies play in susceptibility of species to pesticides and other toxicants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101(3):732-736.
• Banks, J.E. and C.L. Yasenak*. 2003 . Effects of plot vegetation diversity and spatial scale on Coccinella septempunctata movement in the absence of prey. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 108:197-204.

* UWT undergraduate co-author