Rudolf Schilder, Ph.D.

Rudolf Schilder, Ph.D.

  • Associate Professor of Entomology and Biology
501 Ag Sci Ind Bldg
University Park, PA 16802

Areas of Expertise

  • Insect physiology, energetics, thermal biology, electronics, 3d printing, trial and error, troubleshooting

Education

  • Postdoctoral fellow, 2008-2011. Penn State Hershey, Hershey, PA.
  • Postdoctoral fellow, 2006-2008. University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE.
  • Ph.D. Biology, Penn State University, University Park, PA.
  • M.Sc. Biology, Wageningen University and Research Center, The Netherlands.

Research Interests

The success or fitness of animals depends to a large extent on how well they respond to changes in demands from their environment. I am broadly interested in the (physiological) mechanisms that allow them to do this most optimally, but my research in this area is mainly focused on how animals match the performance of their locomotory apparatus (i.e. their musculoskeletal system) to changes in their body size, energy requirements and energy availability. As most organisms have to deal with these issues, I am not limited in the type of animal I can study. In fact, by studying these mechanisms across different animal taxa we may identify important evolutionary constraints on animal design (in a broad sense), and sources of design variation that natural selection may act on.

Publications

Body mass, temperature, and pathogen intensity differentially affect critical thermal maxima and their population-level variation in a solitary bee
Ecology and Evolution, Jones, Laura J., Miller, Douglas A., Schilder, Rudolf J., López-Uribe, Margarita M., 2024

Divergent impacts of the neonicotinoid insecticide, clothianidin, on flight performance metrics in two species of migratory butterflies
Conservation Physiology, Cibotti, Staci, Saum, Phineas J., Myrick, Andrew James, Schilder, Rudolf J., Ali, Jared Gregory, 2024

Hawkmoths regulate flight torques with their abdomen for yaw control
Journal of Experimental Biology, Le, Viet, Cellini, Benjamin, Schilder, Rudolf, Mongeau, Jean Michel, 2023

Impacts of larval host plant species on dispersal traits and free-flight energetics of adult butterflies
Communications Biology, Pocius, Victoria M., Cibotti, Staci, Ray, Swayamjit, Ankoma-Darko, Obenewa, McCartney, Nathaniel B., Schilder, Rudolf J., Ali, Jared G., 2022

Squash bees host high diversity and prevalence of parasites in the northeastern United States
Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, Jones, Laura J., Singh, Avehi, Schilder, Rudolf J., López-Uribe, Margarita M., 2022

Geographic variation and thermal plasticity shape salamander metabolic rates under current and future climates
Ecology and Evolution, Muñoz, David, Miller, David, Schilder, Rudolf, Campbell Grant, Evan H., 2022

Honey bee viruses are highly prevalent but at low intensities in wild pollinators of cucurbit agroecosystems
Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, Jones, Laura J., Ford, Ryan P., Schilder, Rudolf J., López-Uribe, Margarita M., 2021

Operative temperature analysis of the honey bee Apis mellifera
Journal of Experimental Biology, Stupski, Stanley D., Schilder, Rudolf J., 2021

From Spinning Silk to Spreading Saliva: Mouthpart Remodeling in Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)
Insect Systematics and Diversity, Mikó, István, Rahman, Sarthok Rasique, Jones, Anne C., Townley, Mark A., Gominho, Brandon, Paudel, Sulav, David Stupski, S., Hines, Heather M., Schilder, Rudolf J., 2019

Fat in the Leg: Function of the Expanded Hind Leg in Gasteruptiid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Gasteruptiidae)
Insect Systematics and Diversity, Miko, Istvan, Rahman, Sarthok Rasique, Anzaldo, Salvatore S., Van De Kamp, Thomas, Parslow, Ben A., Tatarnic, Nikolai J., Wetherington, Maxwell, Anderson, Julie, Schilder, Rudolf Johannes, Ulmer, Jonah M., Deans, Andrew Robert, Hines, Heather M., 2019

Palmitate- and C6 ceramide-induced Tnnt3 pre-mRNA alternative splicing occurs in a PP2A dependent manner
Nutrition and Metabolism, Black, Adam J., Schilder, Rudolf J., Kimball, Scot R., 2018

Dietary fat quantity and type induce transcriptome-wide effects on alternative splicing of pre-mRNA in rat Skeletal Muscle
Journal of Nutrition, Black, Adam J., Ravi, Suhana, Jefferson, Leonard S., Kimball, Scot R., Schilder, Rudolf J., 2017

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) as a bridge between ecology and evolutionary genomics
Frontiers in Zoology, Bybee, Seth, Córdoba-Aguilar, Alex, Duryea, M. Catherine, Futahashi, Ryo, Hansson, Bengt, Lorenzo-Carballa, M. Olalla, Schilder, Ruud, Stoks, Robby, Suvorov, Anton, Svensson, Erik I., Swaegers, Janne, Takahashi, Yuma, Watts, Phillip C., Wellenreuther, Maren, 2016

(How) do animals know how much they weigh?
Journal of Experimental Biology, Schilder, Rudolf J., 2016

Effects of age and hindlimb immobilization and remobilization on fast troponin T precursor mRNA alternative splicing in rat gastrocnemius muscle.
Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme, Ravi, S, Schilder, Rudolf, Berg, A, Kimball, S, 2016

Effects of age and hindlimb immobilization and remobilization on fast troponin T precursor mRNA alternative splicing in rat gastrocnemius muscle
Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, Ravi, Suhana, Schilder, Rudolf J., Berg, Arthur S., Kimball, Scot R., 2015

Influence of ageing and essential amino acids on quantitative patterns of troponin T alternative splicing in human skeletal muscle
Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, Coble, Joel, Schilder, Rudolf J., Berg, Arthur, Drummond, Micah J., Rasmussen, Blake B., Kimball, Scot R., 2015

Role of Precursor mRNA splicing in nutrient-induced alterations in gene expression and metabolism
Journal of Nutrition, Ravi, Suhana, Schilder, Rudolf J., Kimball, Scot R., 2015

Purification and characterization of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase from the wing-polymorphic cricket, Gryllus firmus, and assessment of causes of morph-differences in enzyme activity
Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - B Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Zera, Anthony J., Wehrkamp, Cody, Schilder, Rudolf, Black, Christine, Gribben, Paul, 2014

De novo transcriptome assembly from fat body and flight muscles transcripts to identify morph-specific gene expression profiles in Gryllus firmus
PLoS One, Vellichirammal, Neetha Nanoth, Zera, Anthony J., Schilder, Rudolf J., Wehrkamp, Cody, Riethoven, Jean Jack M., Brisson, Jennifer A., 2014