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Sara Lewis

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Sara Margery Lewis is an American biologist, professor, author, and firefly expert.[1][2][3]

Sara Margery Lewis
Alma materHarvard College (AB in Biology), Duke University (Ph.D. in Zoology)
Scientific career
FieldsBiology, coral reef ecology, insect reproductive behavior
InstitutionsTufts University

Lewis is a professor emerita of biology at Tufts University, co-chair of the Firefly Specialist Group at the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and author of the 2016 book, Silent Sparks: The Wondrous World of Fireflies.[4][5][1]

Education

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Lewis graduated from Harvard College with an AB in Biology in 1976.[6] After Harvard, she studied at Duke University where she earned a Ph.D. in Zoology in 1984. Based at a Smithsonian Institution marine station off the coast of Belize, Lewis' graduate work focused on the subject of coral reef ecology, examining the mechanisms behind which herbivorous fish grazing mediates competitive interactions between seaweeds and reef-building corals.[7][8][9]

Academic career

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In 1985, Lewis returned to Harvard where she spent the next five years as a postdoctoral fellow in organismic and evolutionary biology.[10] Her postdoctoral research analyzed the subject of sexual selection in fireflies and flour beetles.[11]

In 1991, Lewis joined the faculty at the Tufts University Department of Biology.[6] Lewis has taught classes in biostatistics, ecology, and science communication as well as classes more closely related to her research including Edible Insects and Evaluating Firefly Extinction Risk Seminar.[9][12]

Scientific research

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Lewis' research work has focused on coral reef ecology, the evolution of reproductive behavior in insects, and fireflies.[13][14] Lewis has published research on these topics including demonstrating that both cryptic female choice and male sperm competition contribute to postcopulatory sexual selection in Tribolium flour beetles;[15] showing that Photinus firefly females choose mates based on male flash characteristics;[16] revealing the presence,[17] coevolution,[18] and composition[19] of firefly nuptial gifts; and describing how hermit crabs queue up to form vacancy chains that distribute resource benefits to multiple crabs.[20][21]

Firefly conservation

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Lewis is a founding member of Fireflyers International, a group dedicated to the conservation of fireflies and their habitats.[6] Since 2018, Lewis has worked with the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as co-chair of the Firefly Specialist Group, a team of international experts who identified the key threats faced by fireflies, which include habitat degradation, light pollution, pesticides, and climate change.[22][23][24][25]

Works

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Books

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  • Lewis, S. 2016. Silent Sparks: The Wondrous World of Fireflies. Princeton University Press. 250 pp. (Winner of 2016 Best Science/Nature Book - Independent Book Publisher Award)
  • Lewis, S. 2017. Leuchten in der Stille: Über Glühwürmchen und das Glück des Moments. Bastei Lubbe.

Selected articles

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  • Owens A.C.S*., S.M. Lewis. 2022. Artificial light impacts the mate success of female fireflies. Royal Society Open Science 9(8):220468. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220468.
  • Owens, A.C.S.*, C. Dressler, S.M. Lewis. 2022. Costs and benefits of “insect-friendly” artificial lights are taxon-specific. Oecologia 199 487-497. doi.org/10.1007/s00442-022-05189-6
  • Fallon, C.E. A.C Walker, S.M. Lewis, J. Cicero, L. Faust, C.M Heckscher, C.X Pérez-Hernández, B. Pfeiffer, S. Jepsen. 2021. Evaluating firefly extinction risk: initial Red List assessments for North America. PLOS One 16(11): e0259379.
  • Owens, A.C.S.* and S.M. Lewis. 2021. Narrow-spectrum artificial light silences female fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). Insect Conservation and Diversity 4: 199-210.
  • Lewis, S.M. A Thancharoen, CH Wong, T López‐Palafox, PV Santos, C Wu… 2021. Firefly tourism: Advancing a global phenomenon toward a brighter future. Conservation Science and Practice e391
  • Owens, A.C.S.* and S.M. Lewis. 2020. Effects of artificial light on growth, development, and dispersal of two North American fireflies. Journal of Insect Physiology. doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2021.104200
  • Lewis, S.M., C.H. Wong, A.C.S. Owens*, C. Fallon, S. Jepsen, A. Thancharoen, CS. Wu, R De Cock, M. Novak, T. Lopez-Palafox, V. Khoo, and J.M. Reed. 2020. A global perspective on firefly extinction threats. BioScience 70: 157-67. doi: 10.1093/biosci/biz157

References

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  1. ^ a b "Silent Sparks: The Wondrous World of Fireflies | Natural History Magazine". www.naturalhistorymag.com. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  2. ^ "Sara Lewis". Science Friday. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  3. ^ Hunt, Katie (2020-02-03). "Fireflies are facing extinction due to habitat loss, pesticides and artificial light". CNN. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  4. ^ "Silent Sparks". Silent Sparks. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  5. ^ "Firefly tourism takes flight, sparking wonder and concern". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  6. ^ a b c "Sara Lewis | Department of Biology". as.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  7. ^ Fong, Caitlin R.; Smith, Tyler B.; Muthukrishnan, Ranjan; Fong, Peggy (2023). "A persistent green macroalgal mat shifts ecological functioning and composition of associated species on an Eastern Tropical Pacific coral reef". Marine Environmental Research. 188: 105952. doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.105952.
  8. ^ Vermeij, Geerat J. (2016). "Plant defences on land and in water: why are they so different?". Annals of Botany. 117 (7): 1099–1109. doi:10.1093/aob/mcw061. ISSN 0305-7364. PMC 4904178. PMID 27091505.
  9. ^ a b "Tufts Biologist Sara Lewis Sheds Light on the Mysteries of Fireflies | Tufts Now". now.tufts.edu. 2022-09-02. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  10. ^ Zimmer, Carl. "Researcher casts new light on firefly love". SF Gate.
  11. ^ Lewis, Sara. "The Mysteries of Firefly Sex: A Scientist's Notes from the Field [Book Excerpt]". Scientific American. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  12. ^ Finucane, Martin. "Tufts researchers say fireflies are in danger on three fronts". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  13. ^ Rotjan, Rd; Lewis, Sm (2008-09-11). "Impact of coral predators on tropical reefs". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 367: 73–91. doi:10.3354/meps07531. ISSN 0171-8630.
  14. ^ Lewis, Sara M.; Cratsley, Christopher K. (2008-01-01). "Flash Signal Evolution, Mate Choice, and Predation in Fireflies". Annual Review of Entomology. 53 (1): 293–321. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.53.103106.093346. ISSN 0066-4170.
  15. ^ Moiron, Maria; Winkler, Lennart; Martin, Oliver Yves; Janicke, Tim (2022-03-21). "Sexual selection moderates heat stress response in males and females". doi:10.1101/2022.03.20.485015. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  16. ^ Yang, Lu; Borne, Flora; Aardema, Matthew L.; Zhen, Ying; Peng, Julie; Wu, Mariana; Visconti, Regina; Betz, Anja; Roland, Bartholomew P. (2023). "The Path to 'Femmes Fatales': The Evolution of Toxin Resistance in Predatory Fireflies". doi:10.2139/ssrn.4464167. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  17. ^ Zurita-García, Martín L.; Domínguez-León, Daniel Edwin; Vega-Badillo, Viridiana; González-Ramírez, Mireya; Gutiérrez-Carranza, Ishwari Giovanni; Rodríguez-Mirón, Geovanni M.; López-Pérez, Sara; Cifuentes-Ruiz, Paulina; Aquino-Romero, Miriam; Zaragoza-Caballero, Santiago (2022-06-07). "Life cycle and description of the immature stages of a terrestrial firefly endemic to Mexico: Photinus extensus Gorham (Coleoptera, Lampyridae)". ZooKeys (1104): 29–54. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1104.80624. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 9848833.
  18. ^ Zweerus, Naomi L.; van Wijk, Michiel; Smallegange, Isabel M.; Groot, Astrid T. (2022). "Mating status affects female choice when females are signalers". Ecology and Evolution. 12 (4). doi:10.1002/ece3.8864. ISSN 2045-7758.
  19. ^ McKinley, Cheyenne N.; Lower, Sarah E. (2020-06-07). "Comparative Transcriptomics Reveals Gene Families Associated with Predatory Behavior in Photuris femme fatale Fireflies". Genes. 11 (6): 627. doi:10.3390/genes11060627. ISSN 2073-4425. PMC 7348864. PMID 32517321.
  20. ^ Steele, Elliott P.; Laidre, Mark E. (2023-04-04). "Group orientation and social order versus disorder: Perspective of outsiders toward experimental chains of social hermit crabs". Ethology. 129 (7): 344–355. doi:10.1111/eth.13372. ISSN 0179-1613.
  21. ^ Eschner, Kat (2020-02-03). "Humans are putting fireflies at risk of extinction". Popular Science. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  22. ^ Greenwood, Veronique; Hickey, Billy (2022-08-11). "When Fireflies Await a Night That Never Comes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  23. ^ "Conserving the Jewels of the Night | Xerces Society". xerces.org. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  24. ^ "Fireflies under threat from habitat loss, pesticides and light pollution". the Guardian. 2020-02-04. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  25. ^ Guarino, Ben (2020-02-04). "World's fireflies threatened by habitat loss and light pollution, experts warn". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
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