Life histories can be defined as the means by which individuals (or more precisely genotypes) vary their age- or stage-specific expenditures of reproductive effort in response to genetic, phenotypic, and environmental correlates of survival and fecundity. Life histories reflect the expression of traits most closely related to individual fitness, such as age and size at maturity, number and size of offspring, and the timing of the expression of those traits throughout an individual's life. In addition to addressing questions of fundamental importance to ecology and evolution, life-history research plays an integral role in species conservation and management. This accessible primer encompasses the basic concepts, theories, and applied elements of life history evolution, including patterns of trait variability, underlying mechanisms of plastic/evolutionary change, and the practical utility of life-history traits as metrics of species/population recovery, sustainable exploitation, and risk of extinction. Empirical examples are drawn from the entire spectrum of life. A Primer of Life Histories is designed for readers from a broad range of academic backgrounds and experience including graduate students and researchers of ecology and evolutionary biology. It will also be useful to a more applied audience of academic/government researchers in fields such as wildlife biology, conservation biology, fisheries science, and the environmental sciences.

Life histories can be defined as the means by which individuals (or more precisely genotypes) vary their age- or stage-specific expenditures of reproductive effort in response to genetic, phenotypic, and environmental correlates of survival and fecundity. Life histories reflect the expression of traits most closely related to individual fitness, such as age and size at maturity, number and size of offspring, and the timing of the expression of those traits throughout an individual's life. In addition to addressing questions of fundamental importance to ecology and evolution, life-history research plays an integral role in species conservation and management. This accessible primer encompasses the basic concepts, theories, and applied elements of life history evolution, including patterns of trait variability, underlying mechanisms of plastic/evolutionary change, and the practical utility of life-history traits as metrics of species/population recovery, sustainable exploitation, and risk of extinction. Empirical examples are drawn from the entire spectrum of life. A Primer of Life Histories is designed for readers from a broad range of academic backgrounds and experience including graduate students and researchers of ecology and evolutionary biology. It will also be useful to a more applied audience of academic/government researchers in fields such as wildlife biology, conservation biology, fisheries science, and the environmental sciences.

Tears of Tay Ninh tells the story of two U.S. Army Special Forces veterans whose involvement in black ops during the U.S. war in Vietnam draws them back to Southeast Asia decades later. Linked by their past, the men are nonetheless on divergent missions: while one seeks answers to the combat nightmare that's haunted him for years, the other is determined to locate and destroy the documents that will incriminate the masterminds behind the covert operation. As the story slides between past and present, the lines between good and evil, friend and foe, love and hate, blur nearly beyond distinction. Tears of Tay Ninh weaves a tangled web of truth and lies, transporting readers from the jungles of Vietnam to the polished halls of the U.S. Capital and back again, on a quest for love, peace, and vindication.

Mendicus: a Latin word typically referring to a member of the mendicant orders and one who lives by asking for alms. Whitman doesn't ask for anything, except acceptance, understanding and compassion. He is a homeless veteran, unknowingly struggling with post-traumatic stress syndrome. He wanders the city streets in search of answers and his presence in a small town is seen, yet he is unseen. A year of his living hidden from the community is chronicled through the four seasons and it correlates to the seasons of his life as he recalls events that led to his homelessness. Mendicus is a story of awakening, kindness, compassion and understanding. It is also a story of one man's unconscious struggle with the psychological effects of war.