| EDUCATION: Oberlin College (B.A.; Biology, Environmental Studies; 1981).
SUNY at Stony Brook (Department of Ecology and Evolution; 1982-1983; transferred).
UC Berkeley (Ph.D.; Department of Entomological Sciences; 1989).
RESEARCH:
Associate Research Scientist. University of Michigan, 2006-present. Plant oxidative defenses. Tannin oxidative activity in caterpillars and grasshoppers.
Assistant Research Scientist. University of Michigan, 2000-2006. Plant oxidative defenses: effects of ingested oxidases and phenolic compounds on caterpillar gut biochemistry and insect performance. Phenolic compounds as prooxidants. Insect nutritional ecology.
Research Investigator. University of Michigan, 1994-1999. Oxidative stress in insect herbivores: roles of antioxidant enzymes and antioxidants in the gut lumen. The peritrophic envelope as a barrier to ingested plant allelochemicals.
Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Michael M. Martin, University of Michigan, 1990-1993. Biochemical and physiological effects of ingested tannins on larval Lepidoptera.
Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Alexander Purcell, UC Berkeley, 1990. Factors affecting insect transmission of a xylem- inhabiting bacterium, Clavibacter xyli cynodontis, to grasses by insects.
Doctoral Dissertation Research. Dr. Elizabeth Bernays, UC Berkeley, 1984-1989. Nutritional ecology of C3 and C4 grass-feeding caterpillars and ultrastructural changes in C4 grass leaf tissues during digestion.
TEACHING:
Undergraduate Research Advisor. MCDB 300, 400 & 700 (15 students 2000-2008, including three honors students).
Undergraduate Research Advisor. NSF REU (six fellowships 2000-2003).
Undergraduate Research Advisor. UM UROP (six fellowships 2001-2007).
RECENT PUBLICATIONS:
Barbehenn R.V., R.E. Maben and J.J. Knoester. 2008. Linking phenolic oxidation in the midgut lumen with oxidative stress in the midgut tissues of a tree-feeding caterpillar Malacosoma disstria (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) Environmental Entomology (in press).
Barbehenn R.V., Weir Q., and J.-P. Salminen. 2008. Oxidation of ingested phenolics in the tree-feeding caterpillar Orgyia leucostigma depends on foliar chemical composition. J. Chem. Ecol. (in press).
Barbehenn R.V., A. Jaros, L. Yipp, L. Tran, A.K. Kanellis, and C.P. Constabel. 2008. Evaluating ascorbate oxidase as a plant defense against leaf-chewing insects using transgenic poplars. Entomol. Exp. Appl. (in press).
Barbehenn R.V., C.P. Jones, L. Yip, L. Tran, and C.P. Constabel. 2007. Limited impact of elevated levels of polylphenol oxidase on tree-feeding caterpillars: assessing individual plant defenses with transgenic poplar. Oecologia 154: 129-140.
Barbehenn R.V., C.P. Jones, A.E. Hagerman, M. Karonen and J.-P. Salminen. 2006. Ellagitannins have greater oxidative activities than condensed tannins and galloyl glucoses at high pH: potential impact on caterpillars. J. Chem. Ecol. 32: 2253-2267.
Barbehenn R.V., C.P. Jones, M. Karonen and J.-P. Salminen. 2006. Tannin composition affects the oxidative activities of tree leaves. J. Chem. Ecol. 32: 2235-2251.
Barbehenn R.V. 2005. Grasshoppers efficiently process the bundle sheath cells in a C4 grass: implications for patterns of host plant utilization. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 116: 209-217.
Barbehenn R., T. Dodick, U. Poopat and B. Spencer. 2005. Fenton-type reactions and iron concentrations in the midgut fluids of tree-feeding caterpillars. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 60: 32-43.
Barbehenn R.V., S. Cheek, A. Gasperut, E. Lister and R. Maben. 2005. Phenolic compounds in red oak and sugar maple leaves have prooxidant activities in the midguts of Malacosoma disstria and Orgyia leucostigma caterpillars. J. Chem. Ecol. 31: 969-988.
Barbehenn R.V. and J. Stannard. 2004. Antioxidant defense of the midgut epithelium by the peritrophic envelope in caterpillars. J. Insect Physiol. 50: 783-790.
Barbehenn R.V., Z. Chen, D.N. Karowe and A. Spickard. 2004. C3 grasses have higher nutritional quality than C4 grasses under ambient and elevated atmospheric CO2. Global Change Biol. 10: 1565-1575
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Barbehenn R.V., D.N. Karowe and Z. Chen. 2004. Performance of a generalist grasshopper on a C3 and a C4 grass: compensation for the effects of elevated CO2 on plant nutritional quality. Oecologia 104: 96-103.
Barbehenn R.V., D.N. Karowe and A. Spickard. 2004. Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on the nutritional ecology of C3 and C4 grass-feeding caterpillars. Oecologia 104: 86-95. |
