Teresa Schueller

Education

PhD. Zoology and Entomology (Ecology, Animal Behavior). University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. 2012. 

M.S. Zoology (Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology). University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI. 2000. 

B.S. with Distinction and Honors. Biological Sciences (Ecology, Evolution, and Population Biology). Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. 1993. 

Bio

Teresa Schueller is a leader in land stewardship and environmental education and outreach. She frequently brings her students to the field for classes such as Principles of Ecology and Environmental Science and Ethics. She currently oversees programming, finances and fundraising, land management, communications, and community relations at the UWM at Waukesha Field Station, a 98-acre natural site with the mission of connecting people to the land through research, education, and outreach. Her initiatives over the last decade have made the station more welcoming and accessible, fostered multidisciplinary scholarship and research, expanded community engagement, and guided ecological restoration. Schueller works cooperatively with and has served on the board of the Organization of Biological Field Stations, an organization committed to supporting research, education, and outreach programs at field stations across the globe in a manner that maximizes diversity, inclusiveness, sustainability, and transparency. 

Schueller’s research specializes in animal behavior, entomology and ecology. Recent studies have focused on colony integration and learning in social insects, as well as the ecology and emergence patterns in prairie specialist gall wasps.  She previously taught at the UW–Richland and Cardinal Stritch University. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from Purdue University, where she studied amphibian mating behavior and her Master’s in Zoology from the University of Hawai'i and Mānoa, where she studied the mating behavior of wolf spiders on lava flows.

Teaching and Other Academic Positions

2014-Present Director of UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha Field Station, Oconomowoc, WI.   

2014-present Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Waukesha, Waukesha, WI. Courses taught: Environmental Science (F2F, Online, Accelerated Online, Flex), Concepts of Biology (F2F, Online, Accelerated Online), Ecology (F2F). 

2011-2014 Lecturer, University of Wisconsin-Richland, Richland Center, WI.  Courses taught: Environmental Science, Ecology, Animal Biology, Concepts of Biology, Human Sexuality and Reproduction, Animal Behavior, Natural Resources, Prealgebra, Algebra.  

2004-2016 Adjunct Instructor, Cardinal Stritch University, Madison, WI. Course taught: Environmental Studies (Accelerated, Accelerated Online, Hybrid). 

Research

2006-12; 2023-present Colony integration and learning in social insects. UW-Madison; UWM at Waukesha. Field experiments and modeling are used to analyze learning abilities and coordination of specialized workers during foraging, nest construction and defensive reactions in a tropical wasp, Polybia occidentalis. 

2015-present Plant and invertebrate diversity in a restored prairie.  UWM at Waukesha. Field investigation to assess the diversity of plants and invertebrates, with special emphasis on prairie specialist and restricted species, including the Silphium wasps (Cynipoidea sp). 

 2019-20 Buckthorn allelopathy with UWM Honor’s student.  

 2015-17 SoTL Research.  UWM at Waukesha in collaboration with other UW Colleges professors and research team at UW-Madison, the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE).  Investigation of effectiveness of interventions in increasing learning, engagement, and success in introductory biology and psychology courses 

1995-2000 Hawaiian Lycosa sp. adaptive radiation behavior. University of Hawai’i.  Collection and rearing of Hawaiian lycosid spiders; mating behavior observations, recordings and analysis.

1999-2000 Impact of environmental stressors on micromollusc populations. University of Hawai’i. Investigation of water quality using micromolluscs as indicators.  

1996-1999 Host/parasitoid observations and laboratory manipulations.  University of Hawai’i. Investigation on the effects of the tachinid fly (Trichopoda pennipes) on the life history of the green stink bug (Nezara viridula). 

1991-93 Anuran mating behavior. Purdue University. Field studies, laboratory mate choice experiments, aging through use of skeletochronology, and sound analysis of Anaxyrus americanus and Lithobates pipiens. 

Publications

Schueller, T. I., R. L. Jeanne, and C. N. Cook.  Visual learning in a social wasp: Polybia occidentalis foragers are efficient but inflexible learners of color, but not shape.  Insectes Sociaux, in prep. 

Jamison, G., Gregory, M., Hays, C.T, Johnson, M., Pederson J., Quick, J.R., Schneider, W. M., Schueller, T.I., Shaw, D., and Thornton, J. Experiential Learning and Public Outreach through Archaeology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Waukesha Field Station. Wisconsin Archeologist, in review 

Schueller, T. I. and R. L. Jeanne.  2012. Cue-mediated recruitment in a swarm-founding wasp—foragers induce nest mates to search off-nest for a scented resource.  Psyche, vol. 2012, Article ID 585014, 10 pages, doi:10.1155/2012/585014. 

Taylor, B. J., E. V. Nordheim, T. I. Schueller, and R. L. Jeanne.  2011.  Recruitment in swarm-founding wasps: Polybia occidentalis does not actively scent-mark carbohydrate food sources.  Psyche, vol. 2011, Article ID 378576, 7 pages, doi:10.1155/2011/378576. 

Schueller, T. I., E. V. Nordheim, B. J., Taylor, and R. L. Jeanne.  2010.  The cues have it; nest-based, cue-mediated recruitment to carbohydrate resources in a swarm-founding social wasp. Naturwissenshaften 97(11), 1017-1022. 

Howard, R. D., H. H. Whiteman, and T. I. Schueller.  1994.  Sexual selection in Bufo americanus; a test of a good genes hypothesis.  Evolution, 48(4), 1286-1300.

Schueller, T. I.  2000.  Behavioral observations of mating displays in some Hawaiian lycosid spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Hawai’i Island.  Master’s Thesis, University of Hawai’i.  

Selected Presentations

2023 Incorporating Field Station 360 videos into educational experiences. Organization of Biological Field Stations annual meeting, La Selva Biological Station, Sarapiqui, CR. 

2022 Undergraduate Field Experiences Research Network (UFERN) Understanding and Evaluating Outcomes of Undergraduate Field Learning Experiences. Organization of Biological Field Stations annual meeting, Beaver Island, MI. 

2018 Featured on Outdoor Wisconsin, Season 34, Episode 13.  UWM at Waukesha Field Station and Bio 191 (Environmental Science) were highlighted.  

2015 Integration of foraging in colonies of a highly eusocial wasp through cue-based learning and recruitment. Oral presentation at the national meeting of the Entomological Society of America, Minneapolis, MN.  

2010 The cues have it: nest-based, cue-mediated recruitment to carbohydrate resources in the swarm-founding social wasp, Polybia occidentalis. Poster presented at International Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI), Copenhagen, Denmark.  

2008 Nest building in Polybia occidentalis: using a model to understand task coordination.  Presented at IUSSI breakout meetings, Puerto Rico. 

Training and Certifications

2015 The Aldo Leopold Foundation Woodland School “Introduction to Prescribed Fire,” 2-day classroom/field, Baraboo, WI 

2015 Invasive Plant Management Techniques Workshop, 1-day classroom/field, UWM Field Station 

2019 The Prairie Enthusiasts Prescribed Burn Basics Training, 1-day classroom/field 

2020 Ecological Society of America/NSF - Sustaining Biological Infrastructure, 6-week online (financial sustainability, vision and mission statements, strategic planning, stakeholder identification, grant writing) 

2020 ADVANCEGeo Partnership Bystander Intervention Workshop, 1-day online 

2021 American Institute of Biological Sciences Communications Bootcamp for Scientists, 2-day online (communicating science to policy makers) 

2023 Generating a Custom DEI informed Field Safety Plan for your Site workshop, Organization of Biological Field Stations, 1-day classroom 

2023 WI Pesticide Applicator Certification (Right of Way & Natural Areas) 

2024 American Red Cross Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED certification