Professor Claudia Tyler joined the CCS biology faculty in 2004, and has taught or co-taught a range of classes in the college, including Introductory Biology, Field Studies in Ecology, Natural History of Central California Coast Ranges (“Walking Biology”), Conservation Ecology, Ethical Issues in Science, and Physiology of Stress. She earned her PhD. in 1994 at UCSB where her dissertation research focused on post-fire regeneration in chaparral plant communities. She currently conducts research at UC Sedgwick Reserve on community dynamics in oak woodlands.
In April 2014, Claudia Tyler recieved the Distinguished Teaching Award. The criteria for the award consists of many different things, among them are documented examples of the following: innovative teaching efforts, placement record of graduate students—how many placed at which institutions throughout the nominee’s academic career, and integration of research and teaching. Professor Tyler has consistently exhibited excellence in all.
Education
Ph.D., University of California Santa Barbara
B.A., Wellesley College
Research
Dr. Tyler's research is in the field of plant ecology. She is interested in the role of disturbance, plant-animal interactions and other factors in structuring populations and communities, primarily in shrubland, grassland and oak woodland systems. Her current research areas include controls on establishment of oaks (Quercus lobata, Q. douglasii, and Q. agrifolia), effects of cattle on oak savanna plant communities, and mechanisms affecting post-fire chaparral seedling establishment.