Dr. Dan Beck, Professor Emeritus

beckd@cwu.edu  Curriculum Vitae

Education

Ph. D. University of Arizona (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology), 1991.

Teaching

Introductory Biology, Tropical Dry Forest Ecology, Biostatistics, Herpetology, Field Biology. Working to strengthen field biology program and catalyze interdisciplinary field/natural history experiences in the natural sciences.

Research

Northwest vertebrate terrestrial ecology, habitat selection, tropical dry forest ecology of Western Mexico, biology of helodermatid lizards.

Selected Publications

Butterfield, T.G., A. Scoville, A. Garcia, and Daniel D. Beck.  Habitat use and Activity Patterns of a Terrestrial Turtle (Rhinoclemmys rubida perixantha) in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest. Herpetologica 2018. IN PRESS.

Loughran, C. L., D.D Beck, and R.E. Weaver. 2015. Use of Communal Shedding Sites by the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus oreganus) in Central Washington. Northwestern Naturalist. PDF

Reiserer, Randall S, Gordon W. Schuett, and Daniel D. Beck. 2013. Taxonomic reassessment and conservation status of the beaded lizard, Heloderma horridum (Squamata: Helodermatidae). Amphib. Reptile Conserv. 7 (1): 75-96.   PDF

Gienger, C.M. and D.D. Beck. 2011. Northern Pacific rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus) use thermal and structural cues to choose over-wintering hibernacula. Canadian Canadian Journal of Zoology 89:1084-1090. PDF

Wild Earth Guardians and Daniel Beck. 2010. Petition to List the Utah Population of the Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Petition Submitted to the U.S. Secretary of Interior Acting through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Lahti, M, D.D.. Beck, and T. Cottrell. 2010. Ecology of the Pygmy Short-horned Lizard [Phrynosoma (Tapaja) douglasii] in Washington. Northwestern Naturalist 91:134-144. Douglas M. E., M.R. Douglas, G.W. S, D.D. Beck, and B.K. Sullivan. 2010.

Douglas M. E., M.R. Douglas, G.W. S, D.D. Beck, and B.K. Sullivan. 2010. Conservation phylogenetics of helodermatid lizards using multiple molecular markers and a supertree approach. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 55 (2010) 153-167.

Lahti, M. and D.D. Beck. 2008. Ecology and ontogenetic variation of diet in the pigmy short-horned lizard (Phrynosoma douglasii). The American Midland Naturalist. 159:327-339.

Gienger, C.M. and D.D. Beck. 2007. Heads or tails: Sexual dimorphism in helodermatid lizards. Canadian Journal of Zoology 85:92-98.

Beaman K. R., D. D. Beck, and B. M. McGurty. 2006. The Beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum) and Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum): a bibliography of the family Helodermatidae. Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service No. 136.

Beck, D. D. 2005. Biology of Gila Monsters and Beaded lizards (Book). University of California Press, Berkeley.

Beck, D. D. 2004. Venomous Lizards of the Desert. Natural History 113(6): 32-37.

Beck, D.D. and R.D. Jennings. 2003. Habitat use by Gila monsters: the importance of shelters. Herpetological Monographs 17:112-130.

Gienger, C.M., D.D. Beck, N.C. Sabari and D.L. Stumbaugh. 2002. Dry season habitat use by lizards in a tropical deciduous forest of western Mexico. Journal of Herpetology 36(3):487-490.

Beck, D.D. 1996. Effect of feeding on thermoregulation by rattlesnakes: a field experiment. Physiological Zoology 69:1442-1445.

Beck, D.D. 1995. Ecology and energetics of three sympatric rattlesnake species in the Sonoran desert. Journal of Herpetology 29(2): 211-223.

Beck, D.D., M.R. Dohm, T. Garland Jr., A. Ramirez-Bautista, and C.H. Lowe. 1995. Locomotor performance and activity energetics of helodermatid lizards.Copeia 1995(3):577-585.

Beck, D.D. and C.H. Lowe. 1994. Metabolism of helodermatid lizards: allometric and ecological relationships. Link to Pdf

Beck, D.D. and A. Ramirez-Bautista. 1991. Combat behavior of the beaded lizard, Heloderma h. horridum, in Jalisco, Mexico. Journal of Herpetology 25(4):481-484.

Beck, D.D. and C.H. Lowe. 1991. Ecology of the beaded lizard, Heloderma horridum in a tropical dry forest in Jalisco, Mexico. Journal of Herpetology 25(4):395-406.

Beck, D.D. 1990. Ecology and behavior of the Gila monster in southwestern Utah. Journal of Herpetology 24(1):54-68.