University Directory

Alison M. Mostrom, PhD

Associate Professor of Practice, College of Arts and Science: Biology

Alison Mostrom PhD

Department

Office

McNeil Science and Technology Center 379

Phone

215-895-1137
Contact

Alison Mostrom, PhD, earned a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and an AB from Mount Holyoke College. Her research includes conservation of neotropical migratory species in Pennsylvania; social behavior and communication of Carolina chickadees in Pennsylvania; social behavior of an orb-weaving spider in Mexico; and scholarship of teaching and learning.

    • AB (Mount Holyoke College)
    • PhD (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Membership in Professional Organizations

    • American Institute of Biological Sciences
    • American Ornithologists’ Union
    • Animal Behavior Society
    • Sigma Xi

    • Pape-Zambito, D. A., & A. M. Mostrom. 2018. Improving Teaching through Triadic Alignment. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education. 19(3): 19.3.93. doi:10.1128/jmbe.v19i3.1642 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6195179/
    • Mostrom, A. M.; Blumberg P. 2012. Does Learning-Centered Teaching Promote Grade Improvement? Innovative Higher Education 37(5): 397-405. DOI 10.1007/s10755-012-9216-1 http://www.springerlink.com/content/54805m5x8211j052/
    • Porter, J.A., Wolbach, K.C., Purzycki, C.B., Bowman, L.A., Agbada, E., Mostrom, A.M. 2010 Integration of Information and Scientific Literacy: Promoting Literacy in Undergraduates. CBE Life Sci Educ 9 (4): 536542 http://www.lifescied.org/cgi/reprint/9/4/536
    • Mostrom, A.M. 2008 A Unique use of concept maps as the primary organizing structure in two upper-level undergraduate biology courses: results from the first implementation. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Concept Mapping 1 (of 3): 76-83. http://cmc.ihmc.us/cmc2008papers/cmc2008-p099.pdf
    • Blumberg, P.; Mostrom, A. M.; Bendl, B.; Kimchuck, A.; Wolbach, K. 2005. A model for integration of content, concepts and context within separate courses: Making explicit the connections among disciplines. Primus 15(1): 59-80 (Primus is a mathematics education journal).
    • Mostrom, A. M. 2003. Competitive Behavior of Birds at Feeders. In: Exploring Animal Behavior in the Laboratory and Field: An Hypothesis-Testing Approach to the Development, Causation, Function, and Evolution of Animal Behavior. (B. J. Ploger, and K. Yasukawa, Eds.). Academic Press (An Imprint of Elsevier Science) San Francisco, CA.
    • Mostrom, A. M. 2003. Competitive Behavior of Birds at Feeders: Instructor’s Guide. In: Teaching Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field: An Instructor’s Manual to Accompany Exploring Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field. Chapter 22 (pp. 86-89). (B. J. Ploger, and K. Yasukawa, eds.). Published by the editors.
    • Mostrom, A. M.; Curry, R. L.; Lohr, B. 2002. Carolina Chickadee, Poecile carolinensis. In: The Birds of North America. (A. Poole, ed.) Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/636 doi:10.2173/bna.636
    • Heckscher, S.; Hornberger, K. L.; Mostrom, A. M.; Marsh, B. 2000. Biodiversity declining: structural and compositional changes in a Pennsylvania Piedmont Forest. Proceedings of the Fragmentation 2000 Conference, pp. 104-113. September 17-20, 2000. Annapolis, MD.
    • Uetz, G. W.; Hieber, C. S.; Jakob, E. M.; Wilcox, R. S; Kroeger, D.; McCrate, A.; Mostrom, A. M. 1994. Behavior of colonial orb-weaving spiders during a solar eclipse. Ethology 96: 24-32.
    • Gill, F. B.; Mostrom, A. M.; Mack, A. L. 1993. Speciation in North American chickadees I: patterns of mtDNA genetic divergence. Evolution 47(1): 195-212
    • Smith, S. M.; Mostrom, A. M. 1985. "Coral snake" rings: are they helpful in foraging? Copeia.1985(2): 384-387.

  • I mentor undergraduate students who have taken my Animal Behavior course (BS305) as they conduct independent research during the academic year on captive animals at the Philadelphia Zoo.

    I also guide students who seek an active animal behavior summer field research internship.

    I no longer conduct research.