Julian Lee Research Professor   Cox Science Center, Dept. of Biology 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33124 303 N. Virginia Street, Silver City, New Mexico 88061 laboratory website     Education and professional experience B.Sc., Zoology, University of California, Davis, 1966 M.Sc., Biology, San Diego State University, 1973 Ph.D., Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas 1977 1972-73 Lecturer in Zoology, San Diego State University 1973 Curatorial Assistant, Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 1974 Research Assistant to Dr. William E. Duellman, University of Kansas 1975 Research Assistant to Drs. William E. Duellman and Henry S. Fitch, University of Kansas 1976 Research Assistant to Dr. William E. Duellman, University of Kansas 1977 Curatorial Assistant, Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 1977 Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Miami 1982 Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Miami 1983 Awarded Tenure, Department of Biology, University of Miami 1997 Professor, Department of Biology, University of Miami 2005 Research Professor, Department of Biology, University of Miami Grants, Contracts and Awards 1974 University of Kansas Watkins grant for field work in Yucatán, $500 1976 University of Kansas, summer fellowship 1976 University of Kansas Saul grant for field work in Yucatán, $500 1976 National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant for field work in Yucatán, $3,000 1977 NIH biomedical support grant for study of lizard community structure, $1,700 1979 American Philosophical Society, for study of morphological variation in Neotropical frogs, $1,000 1981 Southern Regional Education Board travel grant for work at the Museum of Natural  History, University of Kansas, $300 1981 National Science Foundation grant to study the systematics, variation, and adaptive  morphology of the Anolis sagrei complex, $44,000 (two years). 1983 National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant to study competition between Anolis sagrei and Anolis carolinensis in southern Florida, $10,000.  For my graduate student John Beck. Submitted under my name. 1985 University of Miami General Research Award, video digitizing equipment $5,000 1988-89 Sabbatical leave 1989 Southern Regional Education Board travel grant to work at the Museum of Zoology, Louisiana State University $720 1990 University of Miami General Research Award for incubators for studies of heritability ofphenotypic traits in lizards. $2,000 1990 Dean's discretionary fund for incubators for studies of heritability of phenotypic traits in lizards. $1,200 1990 University of Miami Summer Award in the Natural Sciences and Engineering. ca. $8,000 1991 Southern Regional Education Board travel grant to work at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, $500 1992 National Science Foundation grant to study the herpetofauna of the Yucatán Peninsula,  $24,000 (one year) 1993 Southern Regional Education Board travel grant for specimen acquisition in Belize, Central  America, $300 1994 National Biological Service contract for dietary studies on the American alligator in  Everglades National Park.  $30,000 (Brady Barr, Co-PI). 1995 Environmental Protection Agency contract (through NBS) for dietary studies on theAmerican alligator in Everglades National Park. $24,000 (Brady Barr, Co-PI). 1996 Environmental Protection Agency contract (through NBS) for dietary studies on the American alligator in Everglades National Park. $28,000 (Brady Barr, Co-PI). 1996-97 Sabbatical leave 1997 Environmental Protection Agency contract (through NBS) for dietary studies on the American alligator in Everglades National Park. $30,000 (Brady Barr, Co-PI).2003-06  Environmental Protection Agency. Mechanisms underlying anuran species richness and diversity. $17,000/year. (Tanya Hawley, Co-PI). Areas of Focus Evolutionary biology Tropical biology Research Interests Much of my work concerns anatomical variation within and among populations of frogs and lizards and the ecological and evolutionary inferences that can be drawn from analysis of that variation. In my research I test hypotheses about the evolution of mating success in male frogs and toads, I examine variation in size and shape of frogs along environmental gradients, and I explore ancestor-descendant relationships within populations of colonizing lizards. In particular, my research efforts have focused on studies of variation in the lizard Anolis sagrei, an unusually successful Caribbean species that has, within the past 60 years, colonized three-quarters of the Florida peninsula. Because the circumstances of the colonization are unusually well documented, and because collections of the species were made early in the colonization, the system affords an opportunity to assess the direction, magnitude and rate of micro-evolutionary differentiation in a colonizing species. In addition, I have a long-standing interest in the systematics and ecology of amphibians and reptiles in southeastern Mexico and northern Central America. Teaching Interests During my 30 years at the University of Miami, I have taught a variety of lecture, laboratory, and field courses, most with an emphasis on vertebrates (e.g., vertebrate ecology, herpetology, comparative vertebrate anatomy). For many years I have taught Evolution and Biodiversity, our second semester course for biology majors. In addition I have taught a variety of eadings, tutorials, and directed research courses. Pre-requisite to effecting teaching is establishing rapport with students, of course. I attempt to accomplish this by convincing students that we are partners in the educational enterprise -- that we are in it together. Ideally, students come to view me as an advocate for their interests and to know that I want them to succeed. They also come to know that it is they who must master the material, and that they will be evaluated on the basis of what they have learned, not on how much effort they expend. Although popularity with students by itself is no guarantee of teaching effectiveness, without it the potential for effective teaching is seriously compromised. People speak of a "love of learning," but in my experience, few students love the process of learning per se, which is often difficult, frustrating, even painful. Rather, what students come to love is the knowledge and understanding that results from the learning process. That is the reward, and one way to get to that reward is to animate and personalize lecture material by drawing upon personal experience in choosing examples that best illuminate a concept or principle. For example, anyone can lecture on the ant-acacia mutualism directly from a textbook, using the associated transparencies or PowerPoint modules. It is more effective, however, to be able to illustrate that plant-animal interaction with one's own photographs, and to enliven the lecture with an anecdote from painful personal experience concerning the efficacy with which the ants defend their host plant. One often hears the disparaging comment that "Those who can, do, those who can't do, teach." But of course teaching is doing, and the best science teaching results from the synergism between personal research experience and the give and take of classroom instruction; often the most effective teachers are those most actively engaged in scholarly activity. Representative Publications Lee, J. C., Clayton, D., Eisenstein, S. and I. Perez. 1989. The reproductive cycle of Anolis sagrei in southern Florida. Copeia. 1989: 930-937. Lee, J. C. 1990. Sources of extraneous variation in the study of meristic characters: the effect of size and of inter-observer variability. Syst. Zool. 39: 31-39. Lee, J. C. 1990. Creatures of the Maya. Nat. Hist. January: 44-51. Lee, J. C. 1992. Anolis sagrei in Florida: phenetics of a colonizing species III. West Indian and Middle American Comparisons. Copeia. 1992: 942-954. Lee, J. C. 1993. Size and shape of neotropical frogs: a precipitation gradient analysis. Occ. Pap. Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. of Kan. 163: 1-20. Lee, Julian C. 2001. Evolution of a secondary sexual dimorphism in the toad, Bufo marinus. Copeia 2001:928-935. Lee, Julian C. and Alberto D. Corrales. 2002. Sexual dimorphism in hindlimb muscle mass is associated with male reproductive success in Bufo marinus. J. Herpetol. 36:502-505.