Professor of Biology/Chair, Earth & Environmental Sciences

Marius van der Merwe

Marius van der Merwe

At Utah Tech University I am first and foremost a teacher who loves to work with undergraduate students in the wonderful deserts and mountains surrounding St. George. My formal training was in behavioral ecology and for my dissertation work I studied the foraging behavior of squirrels to gain insights into food value, habitat use, the risk of predation, and coexistence of animal competitors. More recently I have become interested in the ecology of cliffs, and more specifically, the ecology of cliff-dwelling lichens. Undergraduate students that take my ecology classes do a variety of field based projects, with an emphasis on ecological survey techniques. For undergraduate research I offer projects ranging from field-based optimal foraging experiments, animal activity (as measured by camera traps or live traps), to base-line surveys of cliff vegetation.

Education

Ph. D in Ecology and Evolution

  • University of Illinois at Chicago

M. Sc in Entomology

  • University of Pretoria, South Africa

B. Sc in Zoology and Genetics

  • University of Pretoria, South Africa

Courses

  • BIOL 3040 - General Ecology
  • BIOL 3045 - General Ecology Lab
  • BIOL 4040 - Medical Ecology
  • ENVS 3930 - South Africa Natural History

Contact

Marius van der Merwe

Professor of Biology/Chair, Earth & Environmental Sciences

Email: marius.van.der.merwe@utahtech.edu

Phone: 435-652-7924

Office: SET 429