Ph.D., University of Florida

What kind of questions do I study?
Animal behavior, behavioral ecology, behavioral endocrinology, conservation behavior, science education

What kind of organisms?
Mostly mammals, mostly small ones: prairie voles, singing mice, house mice, meerkats. But I have also worked with ostriches and blue crabs!

Where have I done my research?
Kalahari desert, Panamanian cloud forest mountains, American midwest prairies, North Carolina estuaries - and of course laboratories.

Selected publications:
Drea, C.M., C.S. Davies, L.K. Greene, J. Mitchell, D.V. Blondel, C.L. Shearer, J.T. Feldblum, K.A. Dimac-Stohl, K.N. Smyth-Kabay, and T.H. Clutton-Brock. 2021. A heritable androgenic mechanism of female breeding competition in meerkats. Nature Communications 12(1):1-11. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27496-x

Blondel, D.V., J. Rosenberg, A. Sansone, E.A. Godin, B. W. Yang, L. T. Jaglom-Kurtz, L. Linnenbrook-Garcia, and R.M. Schwartz-Bloom. 2019. Development of an online experiment platform for high school biology. Journal of Formative Design in Learning. 3:62. doi: 10.1007/s41686-019-00030-5

Godwin, J., M. Serr, S.K. Barnhill-Dilling, D.V. Blondel, P.R. Brown, K. Campbell, J. Delborne, A.L. Lloyd, K. Oh, T. Prowse, R. Saah, and P. Thomas. 2019. Rodent gene drives for conservation: opportunities and data needs. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 286(1914):20191606. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1606

Sudweeks, J., B. Hollingsworth, D.V. Blondel, K.J. Campbell, S. Dhole, J.D. Eisemann, O. Edwards, J. Godwin, G.R. Howald, K. Oh, A.J. Piaggio, T.A.A. Prowse, J.V. Ross, J.R. Saah, A.B. Shiels, P. Thomas, D.W. Threadgill, M.R. Vella, F. Gould, and A. Lloyd. 2019. Locally fixed alleles: A method to localize gene drive to island populations. Scientific Reports.  9(1):1-10. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-51994-0

Blondel, D.V., G.N. Wallace, S. Calderone, M. Gorinshteyn*, C.M. St. Mary, and S.M. Phelps. 2016. Effects of population density on corticosterone levels of prairie voles in the field.  General and Comparative Endocrinology 225:13-22. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2015.09.002

Blondel, D.V. and S.M. Phelps. 2016. Effects of acute corticosterone treatment on male prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster): Territorial aggression does not accompany induced social preference. Journal of Comparative Psychology 130:400-406

Blondel, D.V., J. Pino, and S.M. Phelps. 2009. Space use and social structure of long-tailed singing mice (Scotinomys xerampelinus).  Journal of Mammalogy 90:715-723. doi: 10.1644/08-MAMM-A-009R2.1

Forward, R.B., Jr., R. A. Tankersley, D. Blondel, and D. Rittschof. 1997.  Metamorphosis of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus: effects of humic acids and ammonium. Marine Ecology Progress Series 157:277-286. doi: 10.3354/meps157277

Teaching Philosophy

I strive to make biology interesting and exciting and to help my students gain an appreciation of biology’s relevance to their lives. My methods are driven primarily by an active learning, evidence-based approach; I like to emphasize inquiry-based learning. I also bring into my teaching my own passion for biology and my own research experiences, to make the content more accessible and exciting.  Finally, underlying all of my teachings is an attitude of respect and positive reinforcement for each of my students, and an appreciation and acknowledgment of the diverse backgrounds brought to my classroom.

More About Me:

How long have you been at NCWU?
Since 2021

What's your favorite class that you teach?
Animal Behavior

What are your research & teaching interests?
Behavioral Ecology

What is a fun fact or an interesting hobby of yours?
I collect science-themed board games.