Valerie Behan-Pelletier, Ph.D.

Contact details
Telephone: 613-759-1799
Fax: 613-759-1927
E-mail: behanpv@agr.gc.ca; or behanpv@gmail.com

• Overview
• Current Research Projects
• Expertise
• Affiliations
• Recent Presentations
• Publications
• Education
• Professional Experience

Overview Val has conducted most of her research on the systematics, biogeography and ecology of brachypyline Oribatida. She has also published on mite biodiversity in soils in arctic, temperate, tropical, aquatic and canopy habitats.

Projects

• Taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of Ceratozetoidea
• Oribatid mite diversity in Canada
• Oribatida: key to families of the World in Manual of Acarology 3rd Edition
• Oribatid mite diversity in Canadian grasslands
• Oribatid diversity in the canopy of temperate rainforest (Canada)
• Oribatid diversity assessments in Canadian ecozones

Expertise

• Systematics, biogeography and ecology of oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida)

Affiliations

• Global Litter Invertebrate Decomposition Experiment
• Predicting Soil Biodiversity Patterns under Climate Change
• Collaborator, Soil and Sediment Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning
• Visiting Instructor, Acarology Summer Program, Ohio State University
• Collaborator and Visiting Instructor, Project ALAS Arthropods of La Selva, Costa Rica
• 1986 - 2003: Member, Scientific Committee, Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
• Editorial Board Pedobiologia
• Member, Entomological Society of Canada
• Member, Acarological Society of America
• 1998-2002: Executive Secretary, International Congress of Acarology

Recent Presentations

• Climate change: Challenges for oribatid mites in the high Arctic. ASA Annual Meeting, Reno, November 2008
• Soil biodiversity: Releasing the biological wealth of soils for humans. AAAS Annual Meeting, Washington, February 2005

Publications

• More than 100 publications on systematics, ecology, morphology, diversity and faunistics of oribatid mites. To see a list of these along with pdf files of some, click here. Pdf files of most listed publications are available from the author upon request.

Education

• Ph.D. (Soil Zoology) 1978 - McGill University, Montreal
• M.Sc. (Soil Zoology) 1972 - McGill University, Montreal
• B.Sc. (Zoology) l969 - University College, Dublin, Ireland

Professional Experience

• 1981- Research Scientist, Research Branch, Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, Ottawa.
• 1988- Adjunct Professor, Department of Renewable Resource Science, McGill University, Montreal
• 1996- Visiting Instructor, Acarology Summer Program, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
• 1992-2005 Collaborator and Visiting Instructor, Arthropods of La Selva (ALAS) project in Costa Rica
• 1978-1981: Professor, Biology Department, CEGEP John Abbott College, Québec.
• 1972-1974: Research Assistant, International Biological Program, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

This page last updated on 20-Jul-2009

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