Rosemary G. Gillespie

Research Expertise and Interest

systematics, insect biology, evolution and conservation biology, spiders, oceanic islands

Research Description

Rosemary Gillespie is the William M. and Esther G. Schlinger Chair in Systematic Entomology and a professor of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, Division of Insect Biology. Her research focuses on insects and spiders that comprise much of life's diversity and are critical for functioning ecosystems. Her focus is on the elucidation and conservation of this biodiversity in order to maintain the life-support system provided by nature's variety, and the living resources necessary for ecologically sustainable development.

In the News

Hindcasting helps scientists improve forecasts for life on Earth

Scientists at UC Berkeley have launched a unique program, the Berkeley Initiative in Global Change Biology, to use hindcasting – “predicting” what happened during past episodes of climate change – to improve the reliability and accuracy of computer models that forecast how plants and animals will adapt to a changing planet.

Long distances can’t keep this pair apart

UC Berkeley researchers have found evidence that leafflower trees and leafflower moths, two species that are mutually dependent upon each other, managed to colonize South Pacific islands separately, and then reconnect again. The findings contradict a long-standing belief in island biology that highly specialized organisms cannot establish themselves on remote islands.

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