RICK RELYEA is Professor of Biology at the University of Pittsburgh, where he has been on the faculty since 1999. In 2005, he was named the Chancellor’s Distinguished Researcher at the University of Pittsburgh. Since 2007, he has also served as the director of the University of Pittsburgh's field station, the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, where he oversees a diverse set of ecological field courses and facilitates researchers from around the world. Rick has taught thousands of undergraduate students in introductory ecology, behavioral ecology, and evolution. His research is recognized throughout the world and has been published in the leading eco¬logical journals including Ecology, Ecology Letters, American Naturalist, and PNAS. The research spans a wide range of ecological and evolutionary topics including animal behavior, sexual selection, ecotoxi¬cology, disease ecology, phenotypic plasticity, com¬munity ecology, ecosystem ecology, and landscape ecology. Rick's research focuses on aquatic habitats and the diversity of species that live in these ecosys¬tems. He strives to integrate different areas of ecology in ways that provide new discoveries and applications.