Personal

• Date of Birth: February 2, 1950
• Place of Birth: Tucson, Arizona, USA
• Citizenship: USA

Education

• Graduate Catalina High School, Tucson, Arizona
• Bachelor of Science Degree (Biology), Stanford University
• Doctor of Philosophy (Zoology), University of Texas, Austin

Scholarships and Awards

• Prizewinner, Arizona State Mathematics Contest, 1968
• National Association of Secondary School Principals college scholarship, 1968
• Stanford University Undergraduate Scholarship, 1968-72
• Scholarship to attend Organization for Tropical Studies, 1973
• National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship 1974-77
• University of California Faculty Research Fellowship 1982-83
• White Mountain Research Laboratory Fellowship 1982-84

Jobs Held

• Laboratory assistant, Stanford University 1968-72
• Cannery freezer worker 1968-71 (summers only)
• Construction worker 1972-73
• Teaching assistant, University of Texas 1972-73, 1977-78
• Instructor, University of Texas 1978-79
• Assistant Professor, UC Irvine 1979-86
• Reserve Manager/Director, University of California Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve 1986-2003
• Adjunct Professor of Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz 1990-2000.
• Reserve Manager, Big Creek Marine Ecological Reserve, 1994-2003
• Field Station Associate Director, White Mountain Research Station, 2003-2012

Research and Management Interests

• Evolutionary, chemical, and mathematical ecology of plant- herbivore-predator interactions.
• Ecology, evolution and behavior of Lampyridae, Heliconiini, Chrysomelidae, Eumenidae, Syrphidae, Dioptidae, Lycaenidae, Formicidae, Passifloraceae, and Salicaceae
• Management techniques for terrestrial and marine nature reserves.
• Practical methods for sustainable harvesting of fish populations
• Alternative Energy Systems

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant and Instructor, University of Texas

• 1973 Teaching assistant, Ecology and Population Biology
• 1974 Laboratory teaching assistant, Diversity of Organisms
• 1977 Teaching assistant for Evolutionary Ecology course taught by Eric Pianka
• 1978 Laboratory teaching assistant, Diversity of Organisms
• 1978 Instructor, Evolutionary Ecology
• 1979 Instructor, Ecology for Non-majors

Assistant Professor, University of California, Irvine

• 1979 General ecology for biology majors
• 1980 Visiting professor in Organization for Tropical Studies course
• 1980 Insect ecology
• 1980 Graduate course in insect/plant interactions
• 1981 General ecology for biology majors
• 1981 Graduate seminar in insect/plant coevolution
• 1981 General entomology
• 1981 Mathematical ecology discussion group
• 1981-85 2-week unit in field methods in ecology
• 1981 Freshman advisory seminar
• 1982 General entomology
• 1982 Field ecology "supercourse"
• 1982 Freshman advisory seminar
• 1983 Graduate course in plant-insect interactions
• 1983 Insect ecology
• 1983 Population and community ecology
• 1983 Graduate seminar in ecological interactions and mutualism
• 1983 Seminar in Heliconius/Passiflora interactions
• 1984 Field ecology "supercourse"
• 1984 Graduate course in plant-insect interactions
• 1985 Population and community ecology
• 1985 Field ecology "supercourse"
• 1986 Population and community ecology
• 1986 Field ecology "supercourse"

Adjunct Professor and Field Station Director/Manager, University of California

• 1987-1991 Lecture to field biology quarter, insect ecology classes, Sierra Institute classes, and many others.

Research Experience

• Laboratory assistant in electrophoresis lab, Stanford University
• Senior Project on electrophysiology of butterfly tarsal chemoreceptors, Stanford University
• 1974-75 Research Assistant, field studies in Costa Rica on Heliconius butterflies
• 1975-77 Ph.D. thesis project in Costa Rica on Heliconius Passiflora interactions
• 1979-83 NSF-sponsored research in Costa Rica on Heliconius- Passiflora-ant interactions
• 1980 Research in Brazil, Venezuela, and Costa Rica on plant- herbivore-predator interactions
• NSF-sponsored field research in Australia on Lycaenidae-ant-host plant interactions
• Design and implementation of a "Rural Ecology Action Lab" at Pacific Valley School
• 1986-present Field research on willow-insect interactions in western North America.
• 1986-2003 Design and implementation of environmental monitoring system for Big Creek Reserve
• 1992-2003 Design and implementation of GIS database for Big Creek Reserve, California
• 2005-2011Design and implementation of sophisticated alternative energy system for the WMRS Barcroft Field Station
• 2010-present Community Ecology of Passiflora-feeding Flea Beetles, La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

Thesis Committees (date finished)

Doctoral Masters Undergraduate

Charles Wisdom (1985) Amy Salzman (1981) Derek Sikes (1991)

Manuel Aregullin (1986) Kathy Kuletz (1983) Tad Nakatani (2005)

Jan Cavin (1987) Jeffrey Mitchell

Margo Griswold (1989) Deborah Lawhon (1984)

Nathan Rank (1990) Michael Kingston (1984)

Luis Mota (1992) Jim Sayce (1982)

Svarup Wood (1995) Tim Holtsford (1984)

Invited Papers and Seminars

• 1980 "Correlation between oviposition preference and caterpillar growth rates in Heliconius butterflies" Gordon Research Conference on Chemical Aspects of Plant-herbivore Interactions
• 1981 "Heliconius Passiflora interactions" Department of Entomology, UC Davis
• 1982 "Ant predation on Heliconius caterpillars" Annual meeting of the Lepidoptera Society, Laramie, Wyoming
• 1982 "Host specialization in Heliconius butterflies" Division of Environmental Studies, UC Davis
• 1983 "Determinants of Growth Rate in Heliconius caterpillars" Department of Biology, UCLA
• 1983 "Ecology of Heliconius-Passiflora interaction" Department of Entomology, UC Riverside
• 1983 "Insect Communities in the Tropics" Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, Detroit, Michigan
• 1983 "Localized variation in insect survival rates" Community Ecology Conference, Malibu, California
• 1984 "Community structure of Passiflora-feeding herbivores" Department of Entomology, UC Berkeley1985 "Chemical ecology of willows, leaf beetles, and predators" High Elevation Research Symposium, White Mountain Research Station
• 1985 "Community structure of Passiflora-feeding herbivores" Plenary lecture to Midwestern States Entomological Society, Lincoln, Nebraska
• 1985 "Chemical ecology of willows, leaf beetles, and predators" Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska
• 1986 "Chemical ecology of willows, leaf beetles, and predators" Department of Botany, UC Riverside
• 1986 "Adaptation along an elevation gradient in the Sierra Nevada", Biology seminar, UC Santa Cruz
• 1987 "Recovery of vegetation and fauna after Rat Creek fire" Keynote speaker for annual meeting of Big Sur Natural History Association, Big Creek Reserve, California
• 1988 "Big Creek in Transition" presentation to guests of the 10th anniversary celebration of Big Creek Reserve. Guests included UC President Gardner and UCSC chancellor Stevens.
• 1993 "Research Progress at Big Creek" slide presentation and subsequent guided tour for the Foundation Trustees of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, a UCSC fundraising organization. Guests included UCSC chancellor Carl Pister.
• 2007 "Elevational And Temporal Trends In Salix-feeding Beetles And Associated Insects Along Three Sierra Nevada, California Drainages" presented to 2007 Paclim conference, Asilomar, Pacific Grove, California
• 2008 "Climate Induced Elevation Shifts in a Sierra Nevada food web: how do the predators respond? presented at conference "Climate Ecosystems and Resources in Eastern California" held in Bishop California, November 2008.

Contributed Papers and Poster Presentations

• 1982 "Comparison of monophyletic vs. polyphyletic feeding guilds" V International Symposium on Insect-Plant Interactions, Wageningen, The Netherlands
• 1982 "Convergence in Passiflora-feeding insects" Southwestern Population Biology Conference, James Reserve, California
• 1983 "Diet diversity in host-specialist insects" Gordon Research Conference on Chemical Aspects of Plant-herbivore Interactions, Ventura, California
• 1985 "Chemical ecology of willows and willow beetles" Chemical Ecology Society, Madison, Wisconsin
• 1989 "Chemical ecology of willows in California" Gordon Research Conference on Chemical Aspects of Plant-herbivore Interactions, Ventura, California
• 2004 "UC White Mountain Research Station brings GLORIA to the White Mountains" presented at 2004 meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, California.
• 2005 "UC White Mountain Research Station expands GLORIA monitoring in the White Mountains" presented at 2005 meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, California.
• 2006 "25 Years of Variability in the Biology of Salix-feeding Beetles and Associated Insects along a Sierra Nevada Elevation Gradient, California: Are There Long-term Trends?" preented to 2006 meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, California.

Professional Service

• Consultant on project to control Passiflora mollissima in Hawaii.
• Author of "Passiflora foetida and P. vitifolia" chapters in Costa Rican natural history guide.
• Author of "Common Insects of the White Mountains: included in a natural history guide for the region.
• Articles reviewed for: American Naturalist, Ecology, Evolution, Science, Pan Pacific Entomologist, Animal Behavior, Jl. Theoretical Biology, Ecological Entomology.
• Grant proposals reviewed for National Science Foundation, Swiss National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, and Organization for Tropical Studies.
• Review book chapter for An Introduction to Conservation Biology by Gary Meffe and Ron Carroll.
• Wrote a "Marine Studies Primer" for Pacific Valley School's Project R.E.A.L.
• Coordinator for "Big Sur Skiff Fishing Survey" 1989-present
• Participant, Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (B.A.E.R.)Team after 1999 wildfire in Big Sur
• Host and organizer of ongoing "Santa Lucia Natural History Symposium" 1984-present
• Participant in "Coast Highway Management Plan" working group 1999-present.

Administrative Experience

• Graduate advisor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 1982-84
• Manager/Director, Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve, University of California, Natural Reserve System 1986-present
• UCSC representative to President's Advisory Committee, White Mountain Research Station, 1987-present
• Manager's Representative to Advisory Committee of Natural Reserve System 1989.
• Member, board of directors, Big Sur Natural History Association 1988-1994.
• Member, school board, Pacific Unified School District, 1995-2003 (elected president in 2000)
• Associate Director, University of California White Mountain Research Station (2003-present)

Public Recognition

• Article with color photographs in Orange County Register 1982
• Public Lecture on High Mountain Insects, Bishop, California
• News and photo coverage of willow research by Associated Press, CBS radio, Science News, Geo Magazine, Science 85 Magazine
• Public Lecture to Big Sur Natural History Association 1987
• Public lecture to Big Sur Historical Society 1990.
• Newspaper column "Nature Notes from Big Creek" published monthly in Big Sur Roundup.

Grant Support

• $90,000 for project on population biology of Heliconius (with Larry Gilbert, Univ. of Texas) NSF DEB7906033 1979-82
• $3000 for comparative study of Passiflora-attending ants Faculty Research Grant 1980-82
• $12000 "Chemical ecology of Heliconius-Passiflora interaction" Faculty Research Fellowship 1982-83
• $60,000 for lycaenid-ant interactions (with Peter Atsatt) NSF DEB8203520 1982-84
• $20,000 for willow-beetle interactions White Mountain Research Laboratory Fellowship 1982-85
• $260,000 for "Bringing 21st Century Energy Technology to the White Mountain Research Station NSF award# 0533661
• $800,000 for "Ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental change in Sierra Nevada populations of a montane willow beetle" NSF award# 0844404

Publications

1. Otte, D and JT Smiley. 1977. Synchronous flashing in Texas fireflies: a consideration of interaction models. Biology of Behavior 2: 143-158.
2. Smiley, JT. 1978. Plant chemistry and the evolution of host specificity: New evidence from Heliconius and Passiflora. Science 201: 745-747
3. Gilbert, LE and JT Smiley. 1978. Determinants of local diversity in phytophagous insects: Host specialists in tropical environments. In: LA Mound and N Waloff, eds., Diversity of Insect Faunas. Blackwell, London
4. Boggs, CL, JT Smiley and LE Gilbert. 1981 Patterns of pollen exploitation by Heliconius butterflies. Oecologia 48:284-289
5. Waage, JK, JT Smiley, and LE Gilbert. 1981 The Passiflora problem in Hawaii, prospects and problems of controlling forest weed Passiflora mollissima (Passifloracae) with heliconiine butterflies. Entomophaga 26: 275-284
6. Smiley, JT and CS Wisdom 1982 Photographic estimation of weight of insect larvae. Annals of Entomological Society of America 75: 616-618
7. Smiley, JT 1982 The herbivores of Passiflora: Comparison of monophyletic and polyphyletic feeding guilds. Proceedings of V International Symposium on Insect-Plant Interactions, Wageningen, The Netherlands
8. Smiley, JT. 1983 Passiflora foetida and P. vitifolia. In: D Janzen, ed., Costa Rican Natural History. University of Chicago Press
9. Wisdom, CS, JT Smiley and E Rodriguez. 1983 Toxicity and deterrency of sequiterpene lactones and chromenes to Heliothis zea (Boddie). J. Economic Entomology 76: 993-998
10. Smiley, JT 1985 Are chemical barriers necessary for butterfly- host plant coevolution? Oecologia 65: 580-583
11. Smiley, JT 1985 Heliconius caterpillar mortality during establishment on plants with and without defending ants. Ecology 66: 845-849
12. Smiley, JT and CS Wisdom. 1985 Determinants of insect growth rate on heterogeneous host plants in a rainforest environment. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 13: 305-312
13. Smiley, JT, NE Rank and JM Horn. 1985 Ecological effects of salicin at three trophic levels: New problems from old adaptations. Science 229: 649-651
14. Smiley, JT. 1986 Ant constancy at Passiflora extrafloral nectaries: effects on caterpillar survival. Ecology 67: 516-521
15. Smiley, JT and NE Rank. 1986 Predator protection versus rapid growth in a montane leaf beetle. Oecologia 70: 106-112
16. Smiley, JT. 1986 Chemical ecology of willows, leaf beetles, and predators: Adaptation along an elevation gradient in the eastern Sierra Nevada. In: CA Hall and DJ Young, eds. White Mountain Research Station Symposium 1: 106-113.
17. Smiley, JT, PR Atsatt and NE Pierce. 1988 Local distribution of Jalmenus evagoras (Lycaenidae) in response to host ants and plants. Oecologia 76:416-422.
18. Smiley, JT and NE Rank. 1990. Bitterness of Salix along the North Fork of Big Pine Creek, eastern California: Species and community elevational trends. Pages 132-147 in: CA Hall and V. Doyle-Jones, eds. Natural History of the Eastern California and High-altitude Research, White Mountain Research Station Symposium Volume 3. 25 pages.
19. Smiley, JT and D. Giuliani. 1991. Common Insects of the White Mountains. In: CA Hall, ed., Natural History of the White-Inyo Range, Eastern California. University of California Press 1991
20. Shawn C Saving, Paul M Rich, John T. Smiley and Stuart B. Weiss, (1993). GIS-based Microclimate Models for Assessment of Habitat Quality in Natural Reserves. American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Technical Papers, Vol. 3, GIS, Photogrammetry, and Modeling. 319-330.
21. Nathan E. Rank and John T. Smiley, (1994). Host Plant Effects on Parasyrphus melanderi (Diptera:Syrphidae) feeding on a willow leaf beetle Chrysomela aenicollis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Economic Entomology 19: 31-38.
22. Nathan Rank, John Smiley, and Alfred Kopf, (1996). Natural Enemies and Host Plant Relationships for Chrysomeline Leaf Beetles feeding on Salicaceae, in: Chrysomelidae Biology vol. 2 Ecological Studies, page 147-171, Edited by P.H.A.Jolivet and M.L.Cox, SPB Academic Publishing Amsterdam, The Netherlands
23. Sears, A.L.W., Smiley, J.T., Hilker, M., Muller, F. and N.E. Rank. 2001. Nesting behavior and prey use in two geographically separated populations of the specialist wasp Symmorphus cristatus (Vespidae: Eumeninae). American Midland Naturalist 145:233-246.
24. Smiley, J.( 2001). Habitats For Willow Beetles and Ecologists: Choosing a Site Really Matters. Views of a Coastal Wilderness: 20 Years of Research at Big Creek Reserve. Edited by John Smiley, Rohana Mayer and Eric Engles. Santa Cruz, CA, University of California Natural Reserve System: 49-58.
25. Otto, SB, EL Berlow, NE Rank, JT Smiley and U Brose. 2008. The diversity and identity of predators drive interaction strengths and trophic cascades in a montane food web. Ecology, 89:134-144.
26. Dahlhoff, E. P., S. L. Fearnley, D. A. Bruce, A. G. Gibbs, R. Stoneking, D. M. McMillan, K. Deiner, J. T. Smiley and N. E. Rank. 2008. Effects of temperature on physiology and reproductive success of a montane leaf beetle: implications for persistence of native populations enduring climate change. Invited paper, in review for focused collection in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, “Predicting Extinction: Investigating the Interface of Physiology, Ecology, and Climate Change”.
27. Boychuk, Evelyn C., John T. Smiley, Elizabeth P. Dahlhoff, Mark A. Bernards, Nathan E. Rank and Brent J. Sinclair. 2015. Cold Tolerance of the Montane Sierra Leaf Beetle, Chrysomela aeneicollis. Journal of Insect Physiology 81: 157-166.
28. Elizabeth P. Dahlhoff, Victoria C. Dahlhoff, Corrine A. Grainger, Nicolas A. Zavala, Dami Otepola-Bello, Brynn A. Sargent, Kevin T. Roberts, Sarah J. Heidle, John T. Smiley, Nathan E. Rank. (2019). Getting chased up the mountain: High elevation may limit performance and fitness characters in a montane insect. Functional Ecology : 2019, 1-10.