Amy Dunham

Amy Dunham serves as Associate Professor of Biosciences in the Department of Biosciences at Rice University's School of Natural Sciences. Her laboratory is housed in Anderson Biological Laboratories (253 ABL) where she maintains an active research program focused on tropical ecology and conservation biology.

Dr. Dunham's research program centers on tropical community ecology, particularly examining mechanisms that structure forest communities and dynamics to inform conservation management. Her work investigates anthropogenic pressures including defaunation, invasion, and habitat fragmentation on species interactions, communities, and ecosystem processes. She employs diverse methodologies including field observations, experiments, database analysis, phylogenetic approaches, and modeling.

Her research areas span population and community ecology, conservation biology, evolutionary and behavioral ecology, and climate change ecology, with significant fieldwork conducted in Madagascar, Central Africa, Ecuador, and Peru. Current research emphasizes vertebrate-influenced ecosystem processes in hyperdiverse tree communities, including seed dispersal, trophic cascades, carbon storage, and soil processes.

Dr. Dunham's recent publications reveal consistent focus on tropical forest dynamics, particularly examining seed dispersal mechanisms, frugivore behavior, and the consequences of defaunation. Her work demonstrates strong interdisciplinary integration between community ecology, conservation science, and ecosystem processes in threatened tropical environments.

• Garden Club of America Tropical Botany Fellowship (awarded to student Julieanne Montaquila)
• NSF INTERN Award for collaborative internship with Houston Zoo
• Rice's School of Natural Sciences Alumni Excellence Award (awarded to former student Onja Razafindratsima)
• Multiple student awards including Wagoner Awards and Graduate Teaching Awards

Dr. Dunham actively mentors PhD and Master's students, with several former students securing faculty positions and prestigious fellowships. Her lab maintains strong international collaborations, particularly with Malagasy institutions, and receives funding from multiple sources including NSF and conservation foundations. The Dunham Lab explicitly welcomes researchers from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, races, ethnicities, gender identities, and abilities.