After completing graduate work in ecology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Michael Melampy went to Colombia as a Peace Corps volunteer to assist in the development of a national park. Peace Corps led him to a teaching position at the University of Puerto Rico. After three years in Puerto Rico, he returned to the mainland where he secured a position at BW. Melampy has been at BW since 1986 and has taught courses in general ecology, evolution, vertebrate natural history, field biology for non-majors, tropical ecology and environmental issues. The tropical ecology course comprises part of a study abroad program in Ecuador that he co-coordinates on an alternate year basis. Melampy's research interests focus on the interactions of plants and insects, particularly pollinators. Currently, he is exploring the effects of forest fragmentation on pollination and plant reproduction.