David Chalcraft

Dr. David Chalcraft is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology at East Carolina University, where he also directs the North Carolina Center for Biodiversity. His office is located in the Life Sciences & Biotechnology Building, Suite 2500, and he can be reached at (252) 328-2797 or chalcraftd@ecu.edu.

Dr. Chalcraft earned his Ph.D. in Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2002, following an M.S. in Biology from Virginia Tech (1996) and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Windsor (1994).

His research program spans population, community, and ecosystem ecology in both freshwater and terrestrial systems, with work involving amphibians, insects, fish, lizards, and herbaceous plants. Dr. Chalcraft is particularly interested in understanding processes that control ecological community structure and how this structure affects ecosystem function. His lab employs experimental, macroecological, and meta-analytical approaches to address fundamental ecological questions.

Dr. Chalcraft's research focuses on several key areas:

• Ecological causes and consequences of variation in biodiversity
• Factors controlling the intensity of species interactions
• Spatial patterns of biodiversity across multiple metrics
• Functional equivalence among species occupying similar trophic positions
• Trait-based approaches to predict species effects on ecological systems
• How environmental variation affects species interactions
• Scaling ecological phenomena from small to large spatial scales

His work has resulted in numerous publications in high-impact journals including Ecology Letters, Oecologia, and Global Ecology and Biogeography. Notably, one of his papers was recognized as one of the 100 most influential papers ever published in British Ecological Society journals.

Dr. Chalcraft has successfully mentored numerous graduate students, with alumni holding positions at universities, government agencies, and environmental organizations across the country. His current doctoral student is Jasper Leavitt.

As Chair of the Department of Biology, Dr. Chalcraft oversees departmental operations while maintaining an active research program through the Chalcraft Lab. His leadership extends to directing the North Carolina Center for Biodiversity, further amplifying his impact on ecological research in the region.