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Holly Martinson Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor of Biology

Biology
Contact:
hmartinson@mcdaniel.edu

I am a broadly trained ecologist fascinated by the small things of this world. I study plants, insects, and how they interact. Becoming interested in ecology as an undergraduate at Duke University, I decided to focus on plant-insect interactions in my graduate studies at the University of Maryland. These small organisms are incredibly diverse, form the base of many food webs, and are important in agriculture, forestry, and environmental management. What’s more, they are easy to work with experimentally and are found in virtually every terrestrial habitat.

In this era of global environmental change, my work focuses on how human impacts change plant-insect interactions, food webs, and biodiversity. My current research includes understanding pollinator ecology at the College’s environmental property, mitigating effects of invasive insects such as the spotted lanternfly, and investigating how urbanization alters herbivore-plant interactions. In collaboration with McDaniel students, I have also set up a long-term ecological experiment investigating how land-use change and altered nutrient cycles affect grassland plants and insects. As part of a large, international collaboration (https://nutnet.org/), the data we collect in summer research and in my Ecology class contributes to a global understanding of ecological processes.

Education

2009
Ph.D., University of Maryland College Park
2001
B.S. in Biology with a minor in English, Duke University

Research Interests

  • Effects of global environmental change on plant-insect interactions

  • Predicting impacts and spread of invasive insects

  • Ecological synthesis via meta-analysis and distributed ecological experiments

Recent Courses

  • BIO 3317: Ecology Lecture and Lab

  • BIO 2204: Botany Lecture and Lab

  • BIO 1117: Topics in Biology: People, Pests, and Plagues

Selected Publications

  • Spohn, M, S Bagchi, LA Biederman, ET Borer, KA Brathen, MN Bugalho, MC Caldeira, JA Catford, SL Collins, N Eisenhauer, N Hagenah, S Haider, Y Hautier, JMH Knops, SE Koerner, L Laanisto, Y Lekberg, JP Martina, H Martinson, RL McCulley, PL Peri, P Macek, SA Power, AC Risch, C Roscher, EW Seabloom, C Stevens, GF Veen, R Virtanen, L Yahdjian. 2023. The positive effect of plant diversity on soil carbon depends on climate. Nature Communications 14: 6624. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42340-0.

  • Wilfahrt, P, E Seabloom, J Bakker, L Biederman, M Bugalho, M Cadotte, MC Caldeira, J Catford, Q Chen, I Donohue, A Ebeling, N Eisenhauer, S Haider, R Heckman, A Jentsch, S Koerner, K Komatsu, R Laungani, A MacDougall, J Martina, H Martinson, J Moore, Y Niu, T Ohlert, H olde Venterink, D Orr, P Peri, E Pos, J Price, X Raynaud, Z Ren, C Roscher, NG Smith, C Stevens, L Sullivan, M Tedder, P Tognetti, C Veen, G Wheeler, A Young, H Young, and E Borer. 2023. Nothing lasts forever: Dominant species decline under rapid environmental change in global grasslands. Journal of Ecology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14198.

  • Kim, S, A Kuhn, MJ Raupp, and HM Martinson. 2023. Host preferences of spotted lanternfly and risk assessment of potential tree hosts in managed and semi-natural landscapes. Florida Entomologist 106: 74-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1653/024.106.0202.

  • Martinson, HM, MJ Raupp, and SD Frank. 2020. How urban forest composition shapes the structure and function of arthropod communities. Chapter 2 of Urban Ecology: Its Nature and Challenges, edited by Pedro Barbosa. CAB International, Boston, MA, USA.

  • Cullum, JP, LJ Nixon, WR Morrison, MJ Raupp, P Shrewsburry, PD Venugopal, H Martinson, JC Bergh, and TC Leskey. 2020. Influence of landscape factors and abiotic conditions on dispersal behavior and overwintering site selection by Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Journal of Economic Entomology toaa077. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toaa077.

Awards and Honors

  • 2023 Mentor for three students receiving Research and Creativity Grants

  • 2022 Mentor for four students receiving Research and Creativity Grants

  • 2022 Faculty Development Grant

  • 2022 Student-Faculty Collaborative Summer Research Grant

  • 2022 Nomination for Phenomenal Woman Award

  • 2021 Student-Faculty Collaborative Summer Research Grant

  • 2019 Charles A. Boehlke, Jr., Engaged Faculty Fellowship