Christopher Higgins
-
Phone: 602-543-1066
-
-
4701 W Thunderbid Rd Glendale, AZ 85306
-
Mail code: 2352Campus: West
-
Since joining Arizona State University in Summer 2020, I have led transformative initiatives in teaching and learning that emphasize experiential education, student research, and citizen science. My work integrates cutting-edge technology, adaptive learning platforms, and immersive tools like Dreamscape Learn to foster critical thinking and real-world problem-solving. I've designed and delivered a variety of iCourses, including General Biology II, Fundamentals of Ecology Lab, and The Living World, reaching over 1,400 students across 250 majors.
In addition to curriculum development, I prioritize experiential learning through conservation projects like West Valley Gardens and citizen science efforts such as the ASU West Global BioBlitz and the Saguaro Snapshot Challenge—initiatives that have gained national recognition. Through honors contracts and NCUIRE teams, I’ve mentored students on interdisciplinary research exploring mental health, environmental data, and species conservation.
My approach bridges research-forward instruction with community impact, empowering students to become confident, capable scholars and stewards of the natural world. I am deeply committed to fostering a sense of place and purpose through education, mentoring, and service. As I continue to develop courses like Environmental Sustainability, I remain driven by ASU’s mission to innovate and engage students in solving the grand challenges of our time.
Over the past 20 years, I have tried to understand why organisms occur where they do and the factors that affect their abundance. During that time I looked at a variety of issues related to biodiversity, such as how hurricanes affect the diversity of snails in a tropical rainforest ecosystem (Puerto Rico), to how desertification affects the diversity of arthropods in western Africa (Senegal), to how climate plays a bigger role than does deforestation in the diversity of small mammals in the Atlantic Forest of South America (Brazil).
De la Sancha, N.U., R. Maestri, R.S. Bovendorp, and C.L. Higgins. 2020. Disentangling drivers of small mammal diversity in a highly fragmented forest system. Biotropica 52:182-185.
Presley, S.J., L.M. Cisneros, C.L. Higgins, B.T. Klingbeil, S.M. Scheiner, and M.R. Willig. 2018. Phylogenetic and functional underdispersion in Neotropical phyllostomid bat communities. Biotropica 50:135-145.
Grimshaw, J.R. and C.L. Higgins. 2017. Environmental correlates of phylogenetic structure in Mexican bat communities. Journal of Mammalogy 98:1657-1666.
Lingbeek, B.J., C.L. Higgins, J.P. Muir, D.H. Kattes, and T.W. Schwertner. 2017. Arthropod diversity and assemblage structure response to deforestation and desertification in the Sahel of western Senegal. Global Ecology and Conservation 11:165-176.
Ruehle, B.P., K.K. Herrmann, and C.L. Higgins. 2017. Helminth parasite assemblages in two cyprinids with different life-history strategies. Aquatic Ecology 51:247-256.
Medina Torres, K.M. and C.L. Higgins. 2016. Taxonomic and functional organization in metacommunity structure of stream-fish assemblages among and within river basins in Texas. Aquatic Ecology 50:247-259.
Price, C.J., C.L. Higgins, K.K. Herrmann, and D.H. Kattes. 2015. Spatiotemporal variation in the distribution of spinose ear ticks (Otobius megnini) within animal shelters at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. The Southwestern Naturalist 60:224-230.
Higgins, C.L., A.R. Love-Snyder, W.W. Wiegreffe, and R.S. Pfau. 2015. Lack of hybridization between red and blacktail shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis and C. venusta) in two Texas rivers, but evidence of introgression among three lineages of the C. lutrensis species group. Copeia 103:272-280.
Lopez-Gonzalez, C., S.J. Presley, A. Lozano, R.D. Stevens, and C.L. Higgins. 2014. Ecological biogeography of Mexican bats: the relative contribution of habitat heterogeneity, beta diversity, and environmental gradients to species richness patterns. Ecography 38:261-272.
De la Sancha, N.U., C.L. Higgins, S.J. Presley, and R.E. Strauss. 2014. Understanding the relative contribution of historical biogeography and human-induced deforestation on metacommunity structure of Atlantic Forest small mammals. Diversity and Distributions 20:1058-1070.
Lange, J.R., R.M. Harp, J.M. Cadle, R.S. Tarpley, C.L. Higgins, and B.D. Lambert. 2014. Lunar influence on post-castration performance of baby piglets. The Texas Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources 27:1-12.
Erős, T., P. Takács, P. Sály, C.L. Higgins, P. Bíró, and D. Schmera. 2014. Quantifying temporal variability in the metacommunity structure of stream fishes: the influence of non-native species and environmental drivers. Hydrobiologia 722:31-43.
Munz, J.T. and C.L. Higgins. 2013. The influence of discharge, photoperiod, and temperature on the reproductive ecology of cyprinids in the Paluxy River, Texas. Aquatic Ecology 47:67-74.
Lopez-Gonzalez, C., S.J. Presley, A. Lozano, R.D. Stevens, and C.L. Higgins. 2012. Metacommunity structure of Mexican bats: a test of metacommunity paradigms in an area of high geographic and environmental complexity. Journal of Biogeography 39: 177-192.
Willig, M.R., S.J. Presley, C.P. Bloch, I. Castro-Arellano, L. Cisneros, C.L. Higgins, and B.T. Klingbeil. 2011. Tropical metacommunities and elevational gradients: disentangling effects of forest type from other elevational factors. Oikos 120: 1497-1508.
Presley, S.J., M.R. Willig, C.P. Bloch, I. Castro-Arellano, C.L. Higgins, and B.T. Klingbeil. 2011. A complex metacommunity structure for gastropods along an elevational gradient: axes of specialization and environmental variation. Biotropica 43:480-488.
Presley, S.J., C.L. Higgins, and M.R. Willig. 2010. Toward a comprehensive framework for the evaluation of metacommunity structure. Oikos 119: 908-917.
Higgins, C.L. 2010. Patterns of functional and taxonomic organization of stream fishes: inferences based on α, β, and γ diversities. Ecography 33:678-687.
Higgins, C.L. 2009. Spatiotemporal variation in functional and taxonomic organization of stream-fish assemblages in central Texas. Aquatic Ecology 43: 1133-1141.
Presley, S.J., C.L. Higgins, C. Lopez-Gonzalez, and R.D. Stevens. 2009. Elements of metacommunity structure of Paraguayan bats: multiple gradients require analysis of multiple axes. Oecologia 160: 781-793.
Higgins, C.L. and R.E. Strauss. 2008. Modeling stream-fish assemblages with niche apportionment models: patterns, processes, and scale dependence. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 137: 696-706.
Willig, M.R., C.P. Bloch, N. Brokaw, C.L. Higgins, J. Thompson, and C.R. Zimmermann. 2007. Cross-scale responses of biodiversity to hurricane and anthropogenic disturbance in a tropical forest. Ecosystems 10: 824-838.
Bloch, C.P., C.L. Higgins, and M.R. Willig. 2007. Effects of large-scale disturbance on community structure: temporal trends in nestedness. Oikos 116: 395-406.
Higgins, C.L., M.R. Willig, and R.E. Strauss. 2006. The role of stochastic processes in producing nested patterns of species distributions. Oikos 114: 159-167.
Chizinski, C.J., C.L. Higgins, C.E. Shavlik, K.L. Pope. 2006. Multiple hypotheses testing of fish incidence patterns in an urbanized ecosystem. Aquatic Ecology 40: 97-109.
Higgins, C.L., and G.R. Wilde. 2005. The role of salinity in structuring fish assemblages in a prairie stream system. Hydrobiologia 549: 197-203.
Smith, C.D., C.L. Higgins, G.R. Wilde, and R.E. Strauss. 2005. Development of a morphological index of the nutritional status of juvenile largemouth bass. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 134: 120-125.
Higgins, C.L. and R.E. Strauss. 2004. Discrimination and classification of search paths produced by different search-tactic models. Behavioral Ecology 15: 248-254.
Courses
2025 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 322 | Fundamentals of Ecology Lab |
2025 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 412 | Conservation in Practice |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
2024 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
2024 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 322 | Fundamentals of Ecology Lab |
2024 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
ENV 499 | Individualized Instruction |
BIO 412 | Conservation in Practice |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
2023 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 181 | General Biology I |
LSC 394 | Special Topics |
ENV 394 | Special Topics |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
2023 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 322 | Fundamentals of Ecology Lab |
2023 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 412 | Conservation in Practice |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
2022 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 394 | Special Topics |
ENV 394 | Special Topics |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
2022 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 322 | Fundamentals of Ecology Lab |
2022 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 412 | Conservation in Practice |
2021 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 182 | General Biology II |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
2021 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
LSC 322 | Fundamentals of Ecology Lab |
2021 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
2020 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 100 | The Living World |
BIO 100 | The Living World |
2020 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
BIO 182 | General Biology II |
BIO 182 | General Biology II |
BIO 182 | General Biology II |
BIO 182 | General Biology II |
LSC 322 | Fundamentals of Ecology Lab |