BACKGROUND
Ph.D., Duke University, 1982
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
My research interests are invertebrate zoology and ecology. Within these two disciplines, most of my work has centered on the feeding biology of organisms. I have studied the specialized ways by which a large family of marine snails (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda: Mitridae) locate and ingest their prey (sinpunuculans or "peanut worms"); the importance of feeding history on the growth, development and metamorphosis of barnacles; the effect of fish predation on communities of invertebrates living in estuarine sediments (benthic infauna); and most recently, relationships between food availability and the development of estuarine infaunal communities.
My reasons for studying what I do is to find out something about how animals make a living in the real world, and particularly how human activities affect estuarine infaunal communities in this regard. The types of anthropogenic influences of greatest interest to me are estuarine habitat restoration and creation, and fishing activities such as bottom trawling.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
West, T.L. 1987. Size regulation in larvae of the crustacean Balanus eburneus Gould (Cirripedia: Thoracica). Mar. Biol. 96: 47-58.
West, T.L. 1988. Determinants of the larval molting pattern of the crustacean, Balanus eburneus Gould (Cirripedia: Thoracica). J. Exp. Zool. 248: 33-44.
West, T.L. 1990. Feeding behavior and functional morphology of the epiproboscis of Mitra idae Melvill (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Mitridae). Bull. Mar. Sci. 46(2): 761-799.
West, T.L, and W.G. Ambrose. 1992. Abiotic and biotic effects on population dynamics of oligohaline benthic invertebrates. IN: Marine Eutrophication and Population Dynamics. Proceedings of the 25th European Marine Biology Symposium. pp. 189-194. Ceccherilli, R. Rossi, and A. Carrieri (Eds.). Olsen and Olsen, Fredensborg, Denmark.
Weinstein, J.E. and T.L. West. 1992. Shell disease and metal content of blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, from the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System, North Carolina. Arch. Environm. Contam. Toxicol. 23: 355-362.
Mense, D., M. Posey, T. West and K. Kincheloe. 1995. Ingress of larval brachyuran crabs through tidal inlets along the North Carolina coast. Bulletin of Marine Science 57: 793-806.
West. T.L, L. M. Clough, and W.G. Ambrose, Jr. 1999. Assessment of function in an oligohaline environment: Lessons learned by comparing created and natural habitats. Ecological Engineering (in press).
COURSES TAUGHT
Introductory Biology
General Zoology
Invertebrate Zoology
Marine Community Ecology
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Microscopical Society
Crustacean Society
Estuarine Research Federation
Society for Ecological Restoration
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Appointed to the North Carolina Crustacean Advisory Committee 1998-1999
Grant from PCS Phosphate for 1998-1999:
Terry West and Tom Walker. 1998. Effects of submerged aquatic vegetation on the dissolved oxygen budget of non-tidal estuarine creeks. |
