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Thomas Herbert
Professor and
Director of Honors Program
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162 Cox Science Center, Dept. of Biology
1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33124 |
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| Education and professional experience |
- B.S. in Physics 1964 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts..
- Ph.D. in Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Department of Biophysics, Baltimore, Maryland 1970.
- Johns Hopkins University, Department of Biophysics, Baltimore, Maryland, 1970-1971. Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Prof. F.D. Carlson. Light-scattering studies of the assembly of myosin monomers into filaments by use of laser intensity fluctuation spectroscopy.
- Cornell University, School of Applied and Engineering Physics and Department of Chemistry, Ithaca, New York,1972-1974. Research Associate in the laboratories of Prof. E.L. Elson and Prof. W.W. Webb. Laser fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy on artificial lipid bilayer membranes.
- Brown University, Division of Biological and Medical Sciences, Providence, Rhode Island,1971-1982. Research Associate in the laboratories of Prof. R.M. Dowben and Prof. J.K. Weltman. Dielectric dispersion measurement of F-actin and G-actin.
- Sabbatical leave at Mitsubishi-Kasei Institute of Life Science, Tokyo, Japan as Visiting Senior Scientist and Department of Biophysical Engineering, Osaka University, Japan 1983.
- Leave as Visiting Senior Scientist at the Institute of Astrophysics and Atmospheric Physics, Estonian Academy of Sciences, Tartu, Estonia, 1987.
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| Areas of Focus |
- mathematical and theoretical biology
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| Research Interests |
| My research interests focus on the problem of understanding how the shape, orientation, and position of plant leaves affect the ability of plants, forests, and agricultural plant stands to gather sunlight and convert this energy into the manufacture of energy-rich sugars, starch, and cellulose. Some arrangements of plant leaves and placement of plants in a forest are the most efficient converters of sunlight to chemical energy in the tropics, while quite different arrangements of leaves and plants are most efficient in temperate regions or the arctic. I have studied leaf placement and orientation in many international locations,including the Norwegian arctic, the European Alps, Central America, Japan, Russia, and the USA. These field data have been used to build mathematical models that predict the relationship between efficiency of energy gathering by plants and their three dimensional structure. |
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| Teaching Interests |
| In the past few years, my teaching interests have centered on the second semester biology course for majors, the core courses in Cell and Molecular Biology and General Physiology, and a upper division undergraduate course in Mathematical Biology. Biology is becoming a science in which mathematics and problem solving skills are increasingly important. I have incorporated quantitative and problem solving exercises in all of the courses that I teach. Remembering names of organisms or parts of a cell isn't enough. Analytical skills, including the use of mathematics, are critically important for a biology graduate. I am also director of the Honors Program in Biology and help students find their way through this important research-based undergraduate program. |
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| Selected publications (of 35) |
- Greaver, T. and Herbert, T.J. (2004) “The Effects of Reflected Light on the Anatomy and Photosynthesis of Ipomoea pes-caprae (Convolvulaceae)” Am. J. Botany 91: 1988-2003.
- Herbert, T.J. (2003) “A Latitudinal Cline in Leaf Inclination of Dryas octopetala and Implications for Maximization of Whole Plant Photosynthesis” Photosynthetica 41: 631-633.
- Herbert, T.J. (2003) “Global Warming and the Relationship of Plant Canopy Structure to Latitude” Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology, Lemnos Greece: 318-324.
- Herbert, T.J. (1992) “Geometry of Heliotropic and Nyctinastic Leaf Movements” Amer. J. Botany 79: 547-550.
- Herbert, T.J. (1991) “Statistical Variation in Interception of the Direct Solar Beam by Top Canopy Layers” Ecology 72: 17-22.
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