AMANDA LITTLE , Assistant Professor

Ph.D. 2005, University of Wisconsin
M.S. 2002, University of Wisconsin
B.S. 1999, UW-Stevens Point

alittle@d.umn.edu
319 LSci, 726-8446

Teaches
1001 Biology and Society
1012 General Biology II
2201 Genetics

3998 Seminar II

Research Interests
I am interested in plant community response to disturbance, and apply hierarchical systems approaches to problems of community organization and stability. My specific interest lies in how both beaver and human activity impacts freshwater wetland (especially small peatland) dynamics. My research focuses on the organization of plant communities in small oceanic peatlands, which tends to be more diverse and dynamic than that of large peatland complexes. I look forward to investigating similar phenomena here in Minnesota.

Recent Publications

• Little, A.M. 2005. The effects of beaver inhabitation and anthropogenic activity on freshwater wetland plant community dynamics on Mount Desert Island, Maine. PhD thesis. University of Wisconsin – Madison.
• Allen, T.F.H., M. Giampietro, and A.M. Little. 2003. Distinguishing ecological engineering from environmental engineering. Ecological Engineering 20: 389-407.
• Tainter, J. A., T. F. H. Allen, A. Little, and T. W. Hoekstra. 2003. Resource transitions and energy gain: contexts of organization. Conservation Ecology 7(3): 4. [online] URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol7/iss3/art4
• Little, A.M. 2002. Resource quality and beaver spatiotemporal dynamics. M.S. Thesis. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.

Family/Hobbies
I enjoy hiking, running, biking, and especially cross-country skiing with my husband Matt Kuchta. I also play the piano, garden, and spoil our cats Pippin and Birke.