• Ph.D. - University of South Dakota
• M.S. - University of South Dakota
• B.S. - St. Cloud State

Research

Plants have evolved multifarious mechanisms for reducing damage from herbivorous insects. Many of these defenses involve nutrition, toxins, and digestive inhibitors. One of my research interest is identifying and determining the effectiveness of nutritional defense mechanisms of plants against insect herbivores. Most of my research has been with determining energy and nutrient budgets as affected by leaf properties for tree leaf feeding lepidoptera larvae.

A second area of research interest is population dynamics of hydra. Hydra populations undergo extreme, but regular cycles of abundance. Although there are a number of factors influencing abundance, predation, parasitism, migration, food supply it appears that food limitation is the primary factor that affects changes in hydra abundance. However, food limitation is affected by non-intuitive factors of temperature affects on prey size, and on hydra food utilization efficiencies.

Field Study
Dr. Lauren Schroeder rejuvenated Biology 805: Field Ecology, a field course on the subarctic at Churchill Manitoba, with a unique opportunity for Biology and Environmental Studies students. Due to his friendship with Dr. Ralph Garono, a YSU grad and wetland ecosystems researcher, Dr. Schroeder learned of the opportunity to submit a grant to the Center for Field Research, thus enabling him to establish a research program in the arctic. Biology 805 students worked as a team with EarthWatch volunteers investigating real biological problems while developing research skills in a major field research project.

Find out more about the 1998 Earthwatch & Youngstown State University Arctic Ecology 14-day field course to Hudson Bay (Churchill, Manitoba).

Publications

Sabol, B., T.M.Kerr, L.A. Schroeder. 1996. Captopril stability in aqueous solutions. U.S. Pharmacist. May 1996.

Schroeder, L. 1986. Changes in tree leaf quality and growth performance of lepidopteran larvae. Ecology. 67:1628-1636.

Malmer, M. and L. Schroeder. 1993. Amino acid analysis by high performance liquid chromatography with methanesulfonic acid hydrolysis and 9-fluorenylmethylchloroformate derivitazation. J. Chromatography, 514:227-239.

Schroeder, L. and J. Lawson. 1992. Temperature effects on the growth and dry matter budgets of Malacosoma americanum. J. Insect. Physiol. 38:743-749.

Schroeder, L. and W. Callaghan. 1982. Effects of temperature on the energy budgets of hydra. Oecologia. 53:238-244.