About Timothy Swartz

I am an ecologist and assistant professor in the department of Biological & Environmental Sciences at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. My research focuses on reconciling biodiversity conservation with human wellbeing in landscapes where people life, work, and play. I love doing ecology in human-shaped environments like farms, cities, and backyards.

I grew up in Virginia near the Blue Ridge Mountains where I spent my summers and time after school wading in the creek near our house catching tadpoles and fish. Ever since then, I've been fascinated with plants, animals, and ecosystems. I completed my BS in Biology at Messiah College where I worked with Dr. Erik Lindquist studying the conservation of amphibian communities in vernal pools. In 2018, I earned a MS in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My MS research in Dr. Jim Miller’s Ecology and Conservation Biology Lab focused on the amphibian communities of human-constructed farm ponds in southern Iowa. I completed my PhD with Dr. Jocelyn Behm in the Integrative Ecology Lab at Temple University.

In my free time I enjoy birding, hiking, camping, foraging for mushrooms, and spending time with my spouse, Lynda, and our two cats.