Kerry Yurewicz
Education
BS, PhD, University of Michigan
Kerry Yurewicz is an ecologist who uses natural surveys and experiments to investigate questions about animal behavior, interactions between species, and patterns of biodiversity across environmental gradients. She joined the faculty at PSU in 2004, after earning her PhD in biology from the University of Michigan and conducting postdoctoral research at the University of Notre Dame. Kerry teaches courses in introductory biology, invertebrate zoology, and ecology, often using local habitats as outdoor labs. She is passionate about inspiring an appreciation for biodiversity and working with students to ask and answer questions about the natural world. Most of her research has focused on amphibians and invertebrates, often in freshwater systems, and she’s enjoyed collaborating with both undergraduate and graduate students on projects involving crayfish, insects, fish, and salamanders. Kerry is also a long-time member of the board of directors at Quincy Bog Natural Area, a local nonprofit environmental organization whose mission is to conserve land and connect people with nature.
Selected publications/presentations
Ramberg Pihl, N. C., and K. L. Yurewicz. 2020. Behavioral responses of northern crayfish (Faxonius virilis) to conspecific alarm cues and predator cues from smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui). Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology, DOI: 10.1080/10236244.2020.1717338
Yurewicz, K. L. 2018. The impact of a July 2017 flood on benthic macroinvertebrates in tributaries at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science.
Ramberg Pihl, N. C., K. L. Yurewicz, and T. R. Boucher. 2018. The influence of lake attributes and predatory bass on the distribution of northern crayfish (Orconectes virilis) in central New Hampshire. Canadian Journal of Zoology 96(2): 87-95.
Hoverman, J. T., C. J. Davis, E. E. Werner, D. K. Skelly, R. A. Relyea, and K. L. Yurewicz. 2011. Environmental gradients and the structure of freshwater snail communities. Ecography 34: 1049-1058.
Werner, E. E., R. A. Relyea, K. L. Yurewicz, D. K. Skelly, and C. J. Davis. 2009. Comparative landscape dynamics of two anuran species: climate-driven interaction of local and regional processes. Ecological Monographs 79: 503-521.
Awards or recognition
2021 Helen Abbott ’39 Professor of Environmental Studies
2019 Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award, Plymouth State University
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society
Courses Taught
Biological Science II (BI 1120)
Invertebrate Zoology (BI 2030)
Freshwater Ecology (BI 3260)
Insects & Society (BIDI 1500)
