Thomas O. Crist

Thomas O. Crist is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Miami University, affiliated with the Miami Ecological Big Data Initiative, Ecology Research Center, Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, and Center for Animal Behavior. His research focuses on terrestrial ecology, particularly how human-driven landscape changes affect biodiversity, species interactions, and ecosystem services, with an emphasis on insects, plants, and soils.

His studies investigate ecosystem services provided by insect communities, such as pollination and biological control, and long-term experiments in the Miami Natural Areas examine litter-dwelling invertebrates influenced by deer, invasive shrubs, and earthworms. Research spans experimental to landscape scales in habitats like forests, grasslands, and agroecosystems, using statistical modeling, spatial analysis, and GIS tools.

Publications highlight deer-invasive species interactions, pollinator dynamics in invaded forests, and earthworm impacts. His work addresses agricultural pest management, biodiversity conservation, and invasive species mitigation. Crist teaches courses including Fundamentals of Ecology, Invertebrate Zoology, and Population and Community Ecology.

Research labs and initiatives include the Miami Ecological Big Data Initiative, focusing on integrating big data approaches in ecological studies.