Assistant Professor of Biology
BDK Science Center 221
(937) 327-6484
swartzt@wittenberg.edu
Dr. Swartz is an ecologist who studies how we can conserve and restore biodiversity in the places where people live, work, and play. He completed his B.S. in Biology at Messiah University. He went on to complete an M.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Ph.D. in Biology at Temple University. A key theme of Dr. Swartz鈥檚 research is understanding how humans create novel habitats for wildlife, and how these wild organisms provide benefits (and cause problems) for people. Working alongside undergraduate student researchers, he has studied frogs in farm ponds, arthropods in vacant lots, and birds in city parks. At Wittenberg, he is developing local community-based research projects in Springfield and the surrounding region focused on restoring connections between people and nature in residential and urban landscapes.
Dr. Swartz teaches courses in biology, environmental science, and restoration ecology. He loves taking students out in the field to learn about organisms and ecosystems up close. Students in his classes prepare to become scientific researchers and engaged citizens through hands-on experience with study design as well as methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
In his free time, Dr. Swartz loves to travel and bird watch with his spouse. At home, he enjoys gardening, games, and spending time with his two cats.
Selected Publications:
- Timothy Swartz, Jason Gleditsch, and Jocelyn Behm. 2023. A functional trait approach reveals the effects of landscape context on ecosystem services provided by urban birds. Landscape and Urban Planning. 234: 104724
- Timothy Swartz and James Miller. 2021. The American Pond Belt: An untold story of conservation challenges and opportunities. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 19(9): 501-509.
- Timothy Swartz, Jaime Coon, Jenna Mattes, and James Miller. 2019. Identifying opportunities to conserve farm ponds on private lands: Integration of social, ecological, and historical data. Land. 8(9): 127.
- Timothy Swartz and James Miller. 2019. Managing farm ponds as breeding sites for amphibians: key trade-offs in agricultural function and habitat conservation. Ecological Applications. 29(7): e01964.