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Thomas E. Lacher, Ph.D.

Senior Associate

    Education

    Ph.D., Biological Sciences, Section of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, University of Pittsburgh,B.S., Biology, University of Pittsburgh

    Dr. Thomas E. Lacher, Jr., is full professor in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University. He has been working in the Neotropics for 40 years, with field research experience in Dominica, Costa Rica, Panama, Guyana, Suriname, Peru and Brazil. His current research is focused on the assessment of extinction risk in mammals and the analysis and monitoring of large-scale patterns and trends in mammalian biodiversity. He has held positions at the University of Brasilia, Brazil; Western Washington University; and Clemson University, where he was the executive director of the research consortium of the Archbold Tropical Research Center, and Texas A&M University, where he was professor and Caesar Kleberg chair in Wildlife Ecology in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. From 2002 to 2007 he was at Conservation International, where he was senior vice-president and executive director of the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science. He was also department head in WFSC between 2007 and 2011. Dr. Lacher has been major advisor of 16 MS and 16 Ph.D. students and several postdoctoral fellows. He is a member of the IUCN Small Mammal Specialist Group and the IUCN Red List Committee. His research experience spans behavioral ecology, population and community ecology and conservation biology, and publishing in journals such as Science, American Naturalist, Ecology, BioScience, Global Ecology and Biogeography, Diversity and Distributions, Conservation Letters and Conservation Biology.

    Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1981. The comparative social behavior of Kerodon rupestris and Galea spixii and the evolution of behavior in the Caviidae. Bulletin of the Carnegie Museum 17:1-71.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. and R.J. Kendall (eds.). 1997. Annual Review Issue: Tropical Ecotoxicology. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 16(1), 118 pp.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1979. Rates of growth in Kerodon rupestris and an assessment of its potential as a domesticated food source. Papeis Avulsos do Museu de Zoologia, São Paulo 33:67-76.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., G.A.B. da Fonseca, C. Alves, Jr., and B. Magalhães-Castro. 1981. Exudate-eating, scent-marking and territoriality in wild populations of marmosets. Animal Behaviour 29:306-307.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1982. Behavioral research in South America, Pp. 209-230. In: Mammalian Biology in South America, M.A. Mares and H.H. Genoways, eds. Special Publication Series, Vol. 6, Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 539 pp.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. M.R. Willig and M.A. Mares. 1982. Food preference as a function of resource abundance with multiple prey types: An experimental analysis of optimal foraging theory. American Naturalist 120:297-316.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1982. Contributing author. In: Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. J.H. Honacki, K.E. Kinman and J.W. Koeppl, eds. Allan Press, Inc. and the American Systematics Collections, Lawrence, KS.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., G.A.B. da Fonseca, C. Alves, Jr., and B. Magalhães-Castro. 1984. Parasitism of trees by marmosets in a central Brazilian gallery forest. Biotropica 16:202-209.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1984. The Cavies. Pp. 690-693, In: Encyclopedia of Mammals, D. MacDonald, ed., Facts on File, Inc., New York, NY, 960 pp.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., I. Egler, C.J.R. Alho, and M.A. Mares. 1986. Termite community composition and mound characteristics in two grassland formations in Central Brazil. Biotropica l8:356-359.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., and M.A. Mares. 1986. The structure of Neotropical mammal communities: An appraisal of current knowledge. Proceedings of the Symposium “Ecology of Neotropical Mammals,” IV International Theriological Congress. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 59: l2l-l34.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., C.J.R. Alho, Z.M.da Silva Campos and H.C. Gonçalves. 1986. Densidades y preferencias de microhabitat de los mamiferos en la Hacienda Nhumirim, sub-region Nhecolandia, Pantanal del Mato Grosso del Sur. Ciencia Interamericana 26:30-38.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., C.J.R. Alho and I.G.T. Pereira. 1986. The relation between cloacal temperature and ambient temperature in five species of Brazilian turtles. Revista Brasileira de Biologia 46:563-566.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., M.A. Mares, and C.J.R. Alho. 1989. The structure of a small mammal community in a Central-Brazilian Savanna. Pp. 137- 162, In: Advances in Neotropical Mammalogy, K.H. Redford and J.F. Eisenberg (eds.), Sandhill Crane Press, Gainesville, FL.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., and C.J.R. Alho. 1989. Microhabitat use among small mammals in the Brazilian Pantanal. Journal of Mammalogy 70:396-401.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1989. [Review of] Studies in Neotropical Mammalogy: Essays in honor of Philip Hershkovitz. B.D. Patterson and R.M. Timm, eds. Fieldiana: Zoology, New Series No. 39. Field Museum of Natural History, 1987. American Scientist 77:286-287.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1991. Contributing author. In: Microlivestock: Little-Known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future. National Research Council. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1991. [Review of] Neotropical rainforest mammals, L.H. Emmons, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1990. Animal Behaviour 42:165-166.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., G.A.B. da Fonseca, C. Valle, and A.M.P.B. da Fonseca. 1991. National and international cooperation in wildlife management and conservation at a Brazilian university. Pp. 368-380, In: Latin American Mammalogy: Topics in History, Biodiversity, and Conservation, M.A. Mares and D.J. Schmidly (eds.), Univ. of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1992. Ecological aspects of reproductive patterns in South American small rodents. Pp. 283-294. In: Reproductive Biology of South American Vertebrates, W.C. Hamlett (ed.), Springer-Verlag, New York, NY.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1994. Critical parameters in population studies. Pp. 89-91. In: Wildlife Toxicology and Population Modeling: Integrated Studies of Agroecosystems, R.J. Kendall and T.E. Lacher, Jr. (eds.), Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1994. Direct and indirect pathways in spatially structured habitats. Pp. 147-151. In: Wildlife Toxicology and Population Modeling: Integrated Studies of Agroecosystems, R.J. Kendall and T.E. Lacher, Jr. (eds.), Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1994. Applying life-history, food web, population viability, and genetic models to pesticide studies. Pp. 359-361. In: Wildlife Toxicology and Population Modeling: Integrated Studies of Agroecosystems, R.J. Kendall and T.E. Lacher, Jr. (eds.), Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1994. Theoretical ecology and research on agroecosystems. Pp. 429-433. In: Wildlife Toxicology and Population Modeling: Integrated Studies of Agroecosystems, R.J. Kendall and T.E. Lacher, Jr. (eds.), Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. and M.R. Willig. 1994. Univariate and multivariate approaches to the analysis of ecotoxicological data. Pp. 441-453. In: Wildlife Toxicology and Population Modeling: Integrated Studies of Agroecosystems, R.J. Kendall and T.E. Lacher, Jr. (eds.), Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. and J. Calvo-Alvarado. 1994. The AMISCONDE Initiative: restoration, conservation, and development in the La Amistad buffer zone. Pp. 315-322. In: Conservation Corridors in the Central American Region, A. Vega (ed.), Tropical Research and Development, Inc., Gainesville, Florida.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. and J. Calvo-Alvarado. 1995. The AMISCONDE Initiative: restoration, conservation, and development in the La Amistad buffer zone. Pp. 440-443. In: Integrating People and Wildlife for a Sustainable Future., J. A. Bissonette and P. R. Krausman (eds.), Proceedings of the First International Wildlife Management Congress. The Wildlife Society, Bethesda, Maryland.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., J. Calvo-Alvarado, M. Ramirez Umaña, and J.D. Maldonado Dammert. 1995. Incentivos económicos y de conservación para el manejo de las zonas de amortiguamiento: la iniciativa AMISCONDE. Pp. 315-334. In: Abordagens Interdisciplinares para a Conservação da Biodiversidade e Dinâmica do Uso da Terra no Novo Mundo; Anais da Conferência International, G.A.B. da Fonseca, M. Schmink, L.P.S. Pinto, and F. Brito (eds.), Conservation International, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. and M.A. Mares. 1996. Use of space in the eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus: the effects of the distribution, abundance, and diversity of resources. Journal of Mammalogy 77:833-849.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. and M.I. Goldstein. 1997. Tropical ecotoxicology: status and needs. Annual Review Issue on Tropical Ecotoxicology. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 16:91-99.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., S. Mortensen, K. Johnson, and R.J. Kendall. 1997. Environmental aspects of pesticide use in banana plantations. Pesticide Outlook, 8:24-28.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1998. The spatial nature of conservation and development. Pp. 3-12. In: GIS Methodologies for Developing Conservation Strategies: Tropical Forest Recovery and Wildlife Management in Costa Rica, B.G. Savitsky and T.E. Lacher, Jr. (eds.), Columbia University Press, New York.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 1998. Using the gap analysis model for sustainable development and natural resources management in developing countries. Pp. 199-209. In: GIS Methodologies for Developing Conservation Strategies: Tropical Forest Recovery and Wildlife Management in Costa Rica, B.G. Savitsky and T.E. Lacher, Jr. (eds.), Columbia University Press, New York.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., B. G. Savitsky, and C. Vaughan. 1998. Application of the gap analysis model in regional and international programs in the tropics. Pp. 210-218. In: GIS Methodologies for Developing Conservation Strategies: Tropical Forest Recovery and Wildlife Management in Costa Rica, B.G. Savitsky and T.E. Lacher, Jr. (eds.), Columbia University Press, New York.,Lacher, T.E., Jr., R.D. Slack, L.M. Coburn, and M.I. Goldstein. 1999. The role of agroecosystems in wildlife biodiversity. Pp. 147-165. In: The Importance of Biodiversity in Agroecosystems. W. Collins and C. Qualset (eds.), CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 2000. AMISCONDE: New institutional alliance for natural resource protection and new income sources for local rural communities. Pp. 17-18, In: Sustainable Development Success Stories, Volume 4. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development, United Nations, New York.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. 2001. AMISCONDE: Natural resource protection and new income sources for U.S. Partners and local rural communities through new institutional alliances. Pp. 145-147, In: Food: The Whole World’s Business. Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development, Washington.,Lacher, T. E., Jr. and C.J.R. Alho. 2001. Terrestrial small mammal richness and habitat associations in an Amazonian-Cerrado contact zone. Biotropica 33:171-181.,Lacher, T.E., Jr. and M. Cassini. 2001. The Cavies. Pp. 672-675, In: The New Encyclopedia of Mammals, D. MacDonald and S. Norris (eds.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 930 pp.