astronomy

Leslie Rissler

Leslie Rissler is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Leslie Rissler rather than just read about it. In short: Leslie Jane Rissler (b May 11, 1969) is an American biologist best known for her work on amphibian and reptile biogeography, evolutionary ecology, systematics, and conservation, and for her strong advocacy of improving the public’s understanding and appreciation of evolution. She is currently Program Officer in the Evolutionary Processes Cluster of the Division of Environmental Biology and Directorate of Biological…

Key takeaways

Leslie Rissler belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Leslie Rissler to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Leslie Rissler from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Leslie Jane Rissler (b May 11, 1969) is an American biologist best known for her work on amphibian and reptile biogeography, evolutionary ecology, systematics, and conservation, and for her strong advocacy of improving the public’s understanding and appreciation of evolution. She is currently Program Officer in the Evolutionary Processes Cluster of the Division of Environmental Biology and Directorate of Biological Sciences at the National Science Foundation. Rissler was formerly at the University of Alabama (2003–2015), where she was a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Curator of Herpetology.

Education Rissler received a BSc (magna cum laude) from Indiana State University in 1992, an MSc from Utah State University in 1995, and her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 2000, where she was an ARCS fellow, studying under Drs. Henry Wilbur and Douglas Taylor. She did her postgraduate research at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of California, Berkeley, where she was an NSF postdoctoral fellow in bioinformatics under Drs. David Wake and Craig Moritz.

Scientific work Rissler has published over 35 papers on a diverse range of biological questions, and systems pertaining to the distribution of organisms and the mechanisms generating species range limits. Much of the work has direct implications for conservation and biological systematics. She focuses on comparative phylogeography and the role of biological and physical factors influencing range limits, and has developed methods in the field of comparative phylogeography (including using models combining natural history and environmental data) to help clarify the biogeographic distribution and evolutionary relationships of organisms. She has been involved in the discovery of new species, including the northern pygmy salamander (Desmognathus organi) and the Atlantic Coast leopard frog in the New York region (Lithobates klauffeldi) and also conducts evolutionary analyses on federally threatened species like the Red Hills salamander (Phaeognathus hubrichti) and the flattened musk turtle (Sternotherus depressus). Rissler has served as an associate editor for Molecular Ecology, Journal of Biogeography, and Herpetological Conservation and Biology. She was on the Evolution Editorial Board for AXIOS. Rissler was the recipient of the 2020 Stephen J. Gould Prize from the Society for the Study of Evolution for her contributions to public understanding of evolutionary biology.

Public work (outreach) Rissler has focused much of her outreach on improving the public’s understanding of evolution. She is Science Advisor and Co-Producer of the webpage and television production Speaking Evolution. She co-founded and served as Chair of the Evolution Working Group for several years on the University of Alabama campus. Rissler’s work has also involved empirical study of the role of religion and education on college students’ understanding of evolution. She is also involved in conservation biology and biodiversity outreach.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Leslie Rissler

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Leslie Rissler claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Leslie Rissler before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Leslie Rissler ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Leslie Rissler

In research: Leslie Rissler appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Leslie Rissler in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Leslie Rissler is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1969 births, 21st-century American women scientists, 21st-century American zoologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Leslie Rissler outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Leslie Rissler in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Leslie Rissler means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Leslie Rissler out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Leslie Rissler in simple terms?

Why does Leslie Rissler matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Leslie Rissler?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Leslie Rissler.