Scott Carroll (biologist)

Scott P. Carroll was awarded his Ph.D. in biology at the University of Utah in 1990. He gained his Master of Science in 1983 at the University of Oklahoma, graduating in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science in ecology and behavioral biology (magna cum laude) at the University of Minnesota.

After gaining his Ph. D. Carrol worked as an academic in Costa Rica, first working at the University of California in 1991.

In 2003–04 and again in 2007–08 he was a Fulbright Scholar at University of Queensland.

As a principal of Carroll-Loye Biological Research Consulting, Carroll undertakes insect repellent development, testing and registration, providing US EPA compliant efficacy evaluations of both conventional and biological insect repellents.[5] Amanda Mascarelli of the LA Times has written several articles on insect repellents with the help of Carroll-Loye.[6][7][8] In July 2014 Carroll appeared on Good Morning America assisting reporter Becky Worley with a mosquito box in a story comparing DEET based sprays with Picaridin.[9]

• 2014 Paper ‘Carroll and Corneli 1995’ chosen to lead a virtual issue highlighting influential papers in the first 25 years of the journal Behavioral Ecology.
• 2013 Adaptive versus non‐adaptive phenotypic plasticity and the potential for contemporary adaptation in new environments published in April 2007 (Volume 21) in Functional Ecology selected as one of the top 100 most influential papers ever published by the British Ecological Society (co author with C. K. Ghalambor of Colorado State University, et al.)
• 2012 Plenary Speaker Annual Meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• 2007 Fulbright Inaugural Alumni Initiative Award, Australian-American Fulbright Commission.

In conservation biology Carroll cautions against overzealous "native species bias", which he believes may sometimes result in environmentally unwise, expensive and ultimately unsuccessful non-native-species eradication attempts, appearing as one of 19 authors (led by Mark Davis) of "Don't judge species on their origins" in Nature, Issue 7350.[10] This area of conservation biology is hotly debated, the Mark Davis et al. article sparking a response from Daniel Simberloff and another 140 scientists, also in Nature entitled "Non-natives: 141 scientists object."[11] Carroll and co-author Matthew Chew then responded to Simberloff et al. in an opinion piece in The Scientist.[12]

In a special issue of Evolutionary Applications[13] in March 2011, Carroll proposes a conciliatory approach to manage the eco-evolutionary dynamics resulting from interactions of natives with non-natives.[14] Carroll expanded on his views on conciliation biology in an address to the Commonwealth Club of California, "An approach to conservation that reconciles past, present and future landscapes in nature", part of the Commonwealth Club's program “The science of conservation and biodiversity in the 21st century.”[15] Sharon Levy quotes Carroll in OnEarth magazine as saying: "Conciliation biology offers a valuable insight, not that we must give up the fight against invasive species but that we can enlist strong allies in the wild."[16] Ann Hild, a shrub-land ecologist at the University of Wyoming, says: "The heart of Carroll's argument will be hard for many to accept, because it means we're no longer striving for a pristine community of native plants." Levy agrees Carroll's is "the most practical approach in some cases, but preventing new invasions still seems most vital.[16]

• Institute for Contemporary Evolution
• Carroll-Loye Biological Research Consulting