Faculty
John Romeo
Professor Emeritus
CONTACT
Office: ISA 6202
Phone: (813) 974-2336
Email
EDUCATION
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1973. Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Biomedical Research, University of Texas.
RESEARCH
Chemical Ecology, Phytochemistry
Chemical ecology, phytochemistry, plant/insect interactions, environmental stress, allelopathy.
My research interests lie in three areas: the isolation and characterization of natural products, particularly nonprotein amino acids and alkaloids; the biosynthesis, metabolism, and distribution of such compounds in tropical plants; and the study of the chemical ecology of these allelochemicals. Plant/insect interactions, plant chemistry responses to environmental stress, and allelopathy are foci. Multiple ecological roles for natural products increasingly are being recognized. These are of particular interest in my studies with the nitrogen chemistry of Mimosoid legumes.
The nature of chemical ecology is multidisciplinary. My work is based both in the laboratory (bioassays, behavioral, nutritional studies, field simulations) and in the field (collecting, monitoring, manipulations). I look for students with backgrounds in one or more of the following disciplines: botany, entomology, ecology, chemistry, or biochemistry.