Dr. Shelby Rinehart

In the Joint Doctoral Program in Ecology, Dr. Rinehart was simultaneously a student at San Diego State University and at the University of California, Davis. He studied the role of predators such as ladybeetles and crabs on the structure and function of southern California salt marshes. As a visiting researcher at universities in Sweden and in Norway, he investigated the nature of induced defenses in plants and animals.

At Hebrew U, in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, he will assess how rodent predators, and predation risk, shape biophysical processes (e.g. nutrient cycling) in the Negev desert, and in turn nitrogen and carbon cycling across spatial scales, providing vital information for the conservation and management of this ecologically and culturally important ecosystem.

As Chair of the Marine Ecology and Biology Student Association (MEBSA) at San Diego State, he organized an annual Marine Science Day, attracting 800-1,000 participants a year, which taught the broader San Diego community about local marine and coastal ecosystems. Overall, Dr. Rinehart hopes to build a career looking beyond ecosystem and geo-political borders to understand the processes driving the abundance, distribution, and diversity of species in nature.