Rate My Professor Sean Menke

Menke's academic interests center on community ecology, biogeography, urban ecology, and myrmecology. His research examines ant community responses to urbanization, biological invasions, climate change, and ecological disturbances such as periodical cicada emergences. Notable projects include historical resurveys of Argentine ant invasions in southern California, ant diversity on urban green roofs, and the impacts of restoration and prescribed burns on grassland ant communities. He has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including "Climatic drivers of hemispheric asymmetry in global patterns of ant species richness" (Ecology Letters, 2009; 355 citations), "Relative roles of climatic suitability and anthropogenic influence in determining the pattern of spread in a global invader" (PNAS, 2011; 204 citations), "Abiotic factors control invasion by Argentine ants at the community scale" (Journal of Animal Ecology, 2006; 191 citations), and recent works such as "Historical resurveys provide support for abiotic limits to Argentine ant invasion in southern California" (Biological Invasions, 2025) and "Urbanisation dampens the latitude-diversity cline in ants" (Insect Conservation and Diversity, 2022). With over 2,284 citations on Google Scholar, his contributions have significantly impacted invasion biology and urban ecology. In 2025, Menke received a three-year National Science Foundation grant totaling $364,196 for his share, to investigate ant interactions with periodical cicadas, involving collaborations with researchers at George Washington University and Georgetown University and supporting undergraduate student research. He teaches advanced courses including Invasion Ecology, Community Ecology, Biogeography, and Herpetology.