Janice L. Krumm, PhD
- Associate Professor
Affiliated Programs
Education
- PhD, Evolutionary Biology (2006)
University of California--Riverside (CA) - BS, Zoology (1995)
Michigan State University (MI)
About Me
I am passionate about engaging biology undergraduates in research through independent research experiences and student-directed course research projects. I enjoy working with students from freshman to senior years in all stages of research, helping them develop skills and abilities that will enable them to succeed in any career field, from field ecologist to physician.
I work with student researchers on fairy shrimp evolution during the academic year and on host plant-herbivore-predator tri-trophic interactions in the summer. To encourage and support undergraduates in all areas of research, I also served as co-founder and co-director of the Arts & Sciences Summer Research Program at Widener for its first five years.
I am currently focused on expanding and refining the student-led course projects in my upper-division courses. In my course on the evolution of sex, students designed and executed experiments on population sex ratios in spicebush and on sexual selection in two species of fairy shrimp.
Research Interests
My current research focuses on the interactions between trophic levels in host plant-herbivore-predator/parasitoid systems. I am currently working with the tulip tree beauty moth in the Northeast U.S. looking at interactions between host plants, caterpillars, and fly and wasp parasitoids that attack the caterpillars.
I have also recently begun working with an agricultural system in Texas looking at the interactions between cotton, endophytic fungi, and aphid and beet armyworm herbivores. The endophytic fungi colonize the cotton plants and can affect cotton growth and aphid reproduction. I also work on the evolution of fairy shrimp life history, sex determination, and sexual selection.
Publications
- Krumm, J.L., Nagengast, A.A., Moretti, A., Colgan, M., Fisher, K.E., Hy, K.L., Castellante, R.M., & Poslusny, M. (2014). Summer research program on a shoestring budget: Increasing participation in undergraduate research. Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring, 3(2), 1–10.
- Krumm, J.L. (2013). Axial gynandromorphy and sex determination in Branchinecta lindahli (Branchiopoda: Anostraca). Journal of Crustacean Biology, 33(3), 303–308.
News
In the Media
- Delaware County Daily Times
Noteworthy
- Widener Commends Faculty at 2023 Awards Event
Widener honored faculty members for their high distinction in areas of civic engagement, institutional leadership, research, as well as innovative and distinguished teaching. Various faculty were awarded at the ceremony, held Thursday, October 19 in Lathem Hall.
“The professors who were honored at our annual awards ceremony continuously display commitment to teaching, civic engagement, meaningful research, remarkable leadership, and cutting-edge innovation. They are highly valued colleagues and represent core values for which Widener stands," said Provost Andrew Workman.
The awards included:- The Distinguished University Professor Award honors faculty members of high distinction at the University who also demonstrate the institution is committed to recognizing excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service throughout faculty members’ careers. This year's recipients were College of Health and Human Services Professor, Stephen E. Kauffman as well as College of Arts and Sciences Professor, Alexis A. Nagengast.
- College of Arts and Sciences Professor Dana Olanoff was awarded with the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award. This award is given to a faculty member who has exemplified a history of teaching at the highest level of distinction. It is endowed by the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation, a Philadelphia-based foundation that provides grants to institutions of higher education for the promotion of excellence in teaching.
- The Faculty Award for Civic Engagement serves to recognize the outstanding contributions that faculty members have made in accordance with Widener’s civic engagement mission, as well as solidifying Widener students’ understanding of their social responsibilities, and the impact of their disciplinary learning. This year's recipients included faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences: Associate Professor Angela M. Corbo, Professor J. Wesley Leckrone, and Associate Dean of Social Science and Professor James E. Vike.
- College of Arts and Sciences Associate Professor Michael Toneff was awarded the Outstanding Researcher Award. This award gives recognition to a faculty member who has participated in research and scholarship nationally or internationally, and made a significant contribution through their research, while advancing their profession or discipline as well as the university’s mission and vision.
- The Fitz Dixon Innovation in Teaching Award highlights an individual who has designed, implemented, and assessed an innovative or experimental teaching and learning project. This award was presented to College of Arts and Sciences Associate Professor Janice Krumm.
- The Faculty Institutional Leadership Award recognizes a record of leading initiatives that further the university’s vision, mission, and strategic objectives. This year’s award recipients were College of Health and Human Services Associate Professor Marina Barnett, who is also interim assistant provost for civic engagement, and College of Arts and Sciences Associate Professor Bretton Alvare.
Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/widener-commends-faculty-2023-awards-event
- Biology Faculty Receives Continued National Science Foundation Funding
Associate Professor of Biology Janice Krumm is the recipient of over $143,000 from the National Science Foundation to continue a multi-year project aimed at making undergraduate research more accessible for students. This is the fourth grant that this project has received, bringing the total funding to nearly $2 million of which nearly half has been awarded directly to Widener.
Krumm served as primary investigator for the first three awards and is now collaborating with additional researchers from George Washington University, Texas Tech University, Westfield State University, and Anoka-Ramsey Community College. The project has been focused on creating Course Based Undergraduate Research (CURE) classes which utilize a newly created online database of natural history resources that are free and available for use by students across the country.
This new funding will:
- Support recruitment and training of more faculty nationwide to implement accessible CURE strategies into their classrooms
- Allow researchers, like Dr. Krumm, to assess the effectiveness of these new practices using newly designed research instruments
- Provide funding to support students participating in these CURE courses to attend national conferences to present their research. Dr. Krumm estimates that nearly 100 students will be able to attend and present their work over the next 3 years.
- Biology Professor Awarded Nearly $500,000 Grant to Support Undergraduate Research Network
Associate Professor of Biology Janice Krumm has been awarded nearly $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to lead and expand a national network that increases access to undergraduate research opportunities in ecology and evolution.
Krumm secured the grant in collaboration with Associate Professor Carly Jordan at The George Washington University and curators Jean Woods and Elizabeth Shea at the Delaware Museum of Natural History.
The grant supports the expansion of the Biological Collections in Ecology and Evolution Network (BCEENET), a community of undergraduate educators, pedagogy experts, and natural history collections professionals who collaborate to support the development and implementation of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences, or CUREs, using digitized natural history collections data.
CUREs engage undergraduates in authentic research experiences and are known to increase engagement, retention, and long-term success in undergraduates, particularly in students from underrepresented populations in STEM fields.
The courses provide educators and students opportunities to collaborate on research projects using the millions of specimen records on publicly available data portals, resulting in unique and innovative opportunities for research in ecology and evolution.