Summers named distinguished professor
East Carolina University biology professor Dr. Kyle Summers was named the 2011 Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor during the college’s annual faculty convocation, Aug. 22.
The distinguished professorship recognizes a commitment to knowledge and academic life, demonstrated by outstanding teaching and advising, research and creative productivity, and professional service.
Kyle Summers
Summers said he was grateful to receive the honor, which was “especially grafitying…given the many excellent candidates available.”
Summers serves as member of the editorial board of the journal “Ideas in Ecology and Evolution,” and as co-editor of “Foundations of Human Social Evolution,” an edited volume of the classic works of R.D. Alexander. He has received nearly 20 grants totaling more than $740,000, co-authored more than 70 journal articles and 50 scientific papers and presented more than 40 seminars in his field. His professional memberships included the Animal Behavior Society, American Society of Naturalists, International Society of Behavioral Ecology, Society for the Study of Evolution, Research and Analysis Network for Neotropical Amphibians, National Center for Science Education and the Sigma Xi Society.
Summers’ research on poison frogs has garnered international attention, included highlights in National Geographic magazine, BBC Wildlife and Scientific American.
He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he received his doctoral degree in biology in 1990. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. After postdoctoral research appointments at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Queen’s University, Cambridge University and the University of California at Davis, Summers joined the faculty of ECU in 1996 as an assistant professor of biology.
For additional information, contact Summers at 252-328-6304 or summersk@ecu.edu.