Valerie Behan-Pelletier, Ph.D.

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

• 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 various habitats.

Projects

• Taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of Ceratozetoidea
• Oribatid mite diversity in Canada
• Oribatida: key to families of the World (for revised Krantz, G. W. Manual of Acarology)
• Oribatid mite diversity in Canadian grasslands
• Oribatid diversity in lowland tropical rainforest (Costa Rica)
• 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
• 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
• Member, Board of Directors, Canadian Research Chair on Bridging Intellectual and Social Capital in Canadian Communities.
• 1986 - 2003: Member, Scientific Committee, Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)
• Member, Entomological Society of Canada
• Member, Acarological Society of America
• Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science
• 1998-2002: Executive Secretary, International Congress of Acarology
• Member, Organising Committee, XIV International Colloquium of Soil Zoology, Rouen.

Resent Presentations

• Soil biodiversity: Releasing the biological wealth of soils for humans. AAAS Annual Meeting, Washington, February 2005.

Publications

• More than 75 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.

Education

• Ph.D. (Soil Zoology) l978 - McGill University, Montreal
• M.Sc. (Soil Zoology) l972 - McGill University, Montreal
• B.Sc. (Zoology) l969 - University College, Dublin, Ireland

Professional Experience

• l98l- 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- Collaborator and Visiting Instructor, Arthropods of La Selva (ALAS) project in Costa Rica
• l978-l98l: Professor, Biology Department, CEGEP John Abbott College, Québec.
• 1972-1974: Research Assistant, International Biological Program, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

This page last updated on 14-Jun-2005

CNC Web pages development: Dr. J.H. Skevington and Dr. J.M. Cumming with the assistance of L. Bartels, R.B. Fairchild and M. Jomphe