Dr. John B. Iverson
Department of Biology
Earlham College
Richmond, Indiana 47374
Office: (765)
983-1405
Fax: (765) 983-1497
johni@earlham.edu
Teaching
responsibilities at Earlham
As Professor of Biology at Earlham College, I am involved primarily in teaching our introductory course in Ecological Biology ("EcoBio") and our majors course in Vertebrate Biology. Other teaching activities have included Human Biology, Senior Seminars on various subjects, and off-campus biology programs in the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Ecuador (Galapagos), Mexico, and the Nebraska Sandhills.
Primary
administrative activities
As Director of the Joseph Moore Museum, I am in charge of the museum's facilities, and along with other faculty, oversee an Earlham student staff of 20-25 students who are trained to accession specimens, curate the collections, design and construct public exhibits, and lead tours for the general public. Earlham encourages interested students to design an individualized, interdepartmental major in Museum Studies.
Checklist with distribution maps of the turtles of the world
Since 1972, I have been amassing colleague, museum, and literature records of localities for each of the world's turtle species. These records formed the basis for my self-published "Checklist with Distribution Maps of the Turtles of the World" (1986), and "A Revised Checklist with Distribution Maps of the Turtles of the World" (1992). Both of these are out of print although a reprint of the latter is available through Green Nature Books, and another revision is in preparation. Since 1989, with funding from the EPA and NSF (through Oregon State University), we have been developing an electronic version of my Checklist, including my global turtle data base linked to individual points on individual species maps: Turtles of the World . A recently compiled Tree of Life for turtles is available.
Natural history and population biology of turtles of the Nebraska Sandhills
Since
1980, I have regularly employed mark-recapture and radiotelemetry studies
to describe the ecology of the turtles and snakes of the Crescent Lake
National Wildlife Refuge in the Sandhills of western Nebraska. Funded
by Earlham College, the Joseph Moore Museum, and my personal funds,
this study has involved 31 Earlham students and five graduate students
(through Miami University and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln)
and has produced 19526 captures of yellow mud turtles alone.
2008 report of activities 2007 report of activities 2006 report of activities
Conservation biology of the Allen Cays Rock Iguana
Since 1980, nearly annual mark and recapture studies of the only two known natural populations of the Allen Cays Rock Iguana in the Exumas islands of the Bahamas have been undertaken with the help of 112 different Earlham students (and six faculty). Reports on long-term growth, nesting ecology, and population demographics have been published (links below). A short summary of our research is available in our brochure. Support for this research has been provided by Mrs. Sandra Buckner of Nassau, 7-C’s Charters, Powerboat Adventures of Nassau, the Bahamas National Trust, Dr. Ned and Sally Test of Indianapolis, and the Cope Museum Fund of Earlham College, but primarily by the student who have participated. Tax-deductible contributions to support this project can be made to Iguana Project, c/o Development Office, Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana 47374.
Most recent report of activities Nesting
Ecology Popular
account Longterm
Demography
Recent images Nesting imovie
Population biology of the turtles at Dewart Lake in northern Indiana
Mark and recapture
studies of the turtles of Dewart Lake (formerly the Earlham College
Biological Station) in Koskiusko County in northern Indiana have been
ongoing since 1979, and have involved at least 99 Earlham students.
Through 2008, we have made at least 7749 turtle captures representing
eight species. We have individually marked 1894 painted turtles and
made another 1533 recaptures of them (including turtles caught as adults
in the 1979 and still being caught in recent years). In addition we
have made at least 1996 musk turtle captures, and 608 map turtle captures.
The remaining captures have included redeared sliders, snapping turtles,
spiny softshells, Blandings turtles, and one spotted turtle. Recently
published papers have reviewed changes in sex ratios in musk turtles,
daily activity patterns in each of the species; and long-term changes
in the turtle species composition at our site (including surveys done
in the mid-1960's). Funding for this work has been provided by Earlham
College. Images from our recent field work are available here.
Systematics and evolution of kinosternid and geoemydid turtles
Studies of the taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships among the
New World mud and musk turtles (family Kinosternidae), based primarily
on morphological variation, have been ongoing since the early 1970's;
however, the recent inclusion of DNA sequence data has helped resolve
many of the evolutionary relationships within this group. Work
in progress is directed at the relationships within the Kinosternon scorpioides
species complex, and a phylogenetic analysis of life history evolution in the Kinosternidae. Similar studies of the Old World Pond Turtles (Family
Geoemydidae) have been ongoing for the last decade and a collaborative
phylogenetic study of DNA sequence variation in the family has been published: Geoemydidae
Cold adaptations of overwintering turtles in the northern USA
Understanding the behavioral,
morphological, and physiological adaptations of hatchling turtles to
their first winter of life in temperate climates is the primary subject
of my collaboration with Drs. Jon Costanzo and Richard Lee in the Laboratory
for Ecophysiological Cryobiology at Miami University in Oxford,
Ohio. This research has been funded by Earlham College, the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute and the National Science Foundation.
Reforestation of an Indiana hardwood forest
For recreation I have
been reforesting a 76 acre tract of land southwest of Richmond, Indiana.
Half of the tract (36 acres) is middle-growth forest from which the
valuable trees were heavily logged in the 1980s; this tract is being
managed with the usual methods of TSI (timber stand improvement), as
well as for the removal of invasive exotic species. The remaining 40
acres was agricultural field in 1996, but in 1996-97 35 acres was placed
in the federal CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) when we planted 40,000
trees and created 9 wetlands, and it is being managed for maximum hardwood
diversity and growth. We live on the remaining 5 acres, most of which
is also now forested. In December 2003, we established a conservation
easement on the two large tracts (71 acres total) through the Red-tail
Conservancy Land Trust out of Muncie that
insures that the land will never be deforested or developed in any way
in perpetuity. Other images. A photo essay of succession on the tree plantation is available here.