ROBERT COULSON

Professor
Entomology

Department of Entomology
Texas A&M University
TAMU 2475
College Station, TX 77843-2475
Office: 408 Minnie Bell Heep Center (map)
Phone: 979.845.9725
Fax: 979.862.4820
E-mail: r-coulson@tamu.edu
Knowledge Engineering Lab (KEL)

Keywords: Insect ecology, landscape ecology, forest entomology, integrated pest management, natural resource management, knowledge engineering, computer-based problem-solving and decision making, environmental science and management

Interests:
Dr. Coulson’s research has been transdisciplinary in approach and directed to investigations of the activities and impacts of insects and other taxa in forest, prairie, and savanna landscapes. The research addresses issues of significance to ecological science as well as land use management. Research is directed to landscape level problems that require interpretation, integration, and use of different representations of knowledge. Special emphasis has been placed on ways and means of blending qualitative heuristic knowledge of experts, using methodologies from artificial intelligence, with quantitative information that results from scientific investigations.

Disciplines: Behavioral Ecology, Community Ecology & Population Biology, Conservation Biology, Ecosystem & Landscape Ecology

Selected publications:
Coulson RN, Pinto MA, Tchakerian MD, Baum KA, Rubink WL, Johnston JS (2005) Feral honey bees in pine forest landscapes of east Texas. Forest Ecology and Management 215: 91-102.

Pinto MA, Rubink WL, Patton JC, Coulson RN, Johnston JS (2005) Africanization in the United States: Replacement of Feral European Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.) by an African Hybrid Swarm. Genetics 170: 1653-65.

Bird SB, Coulson RN, Fisher RF (2004) Changes in soil and litter arthropod abundance following tree harvesting and site preparation in a loblollly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation. Forest Ecology and Management 202: 195-208.

Pinto MA, Rubink WL, Coulson RN, Patton JC, Johnston JS (2004) Temporal pattern of Africanization in a feral honey bee population from Texas inferred from mitochondrial DNA. Evolution 58: 1047-55.

Baum KA, Rubink WL, Coulson RN, Bryant VG Jr (2004) Pollen selection by feral honey bees in a coastal prairie landscape. Environ. Entomol. 33: 723-39.