Kenneth Hayes, P.D.
Assistant Researcher, PBRC
Cooperating Graduate Faculty, Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences (Entomology)
Education
University of Hawaiʻi, Ph.D. (Zoology)
University of South Florida, M.S. (Zoology)
University of South Florida, B.S. (Biology)
Key West Community College, A.A.
Research Interests
The predominant theme of my research is to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that are responsible for generating and maintaining biodiversity. The vast diversity of life consists of invertebrates, which makes them incredibly useful systems for addressing questions at the interface of ecology, evolution and conservation. To do this effectively with such a diverse group of organisms across a wide spectrum of ecosystems requires an integrative approach that draws upon ecological, molecular, parasitological, genetic and evolutionary methodologies. These are the approaches I use and the avenues of research I explore.
My research program has three primary goals:
1) To develop a clearer understanding of the ecological and evolutionary processes responsible for historical and contemporary biodiversity patterns.
2) To determine the genetic underpinnings of organismal responses to their environments.
3) To use an integrative approach to develop a means of managing and conserving biota and the ecosystems the we all depend upon.
Selected Publications
Hayes, K.A., R.H. Cowie, S.C. Thiengo and E.E. Strong. 2012. Comparing apples to apples: clarifying the identities of two highly invasive Neotropical Ampullariidae (Caenogastropoda). Zoological Journal of Linnean Society 166:723-753.
Karl, S.A. and K.A. Hayes. 2012. Extreme population subdivision in the Crown Conch (Melongena corona): Historical and contemporary influences. Journal of Heredity 103:523-532.
Hayes, K.A., N.W. Yeung, J.R. Kim and R.H. Cowie. 2012. New records of alien Gastropoda in the Hawaiian Islands: 1996-2010. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 112:21-28.
Christensen, C.C., N.W. Yeung and K.A. Hayes. 2012. First records of Paralaoma servilis (Shuttleworth, 1852) (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Punctidae) in the Hawaiian Islands. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 112:3-7.
Hayes, K.A., R.H. Cowie and S.C. Thiengo. 2009. A global phylogeny of apple snails: Gondwanan origin, generic relationships and the influence of outgroup choice (Caenogastropoda: Ampullariidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 98:61-76.