Dr. Kevin Thomas Roberts
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter
Email: kevin.roberts@uni-goettingen.de
Telefon: +49 (0) 551 39 23687
Adresse: Büsgenweg 3, D-37077 Göttingen, Deutschland. Raum Nr. 1.121


Short Bio
I study the ecophysiology of insects in winter, with a focus on how warming winters alter energy use and thermal stress during dormancy. My research primarily uses butterflies and beetles as model systems for understanding these processes, and integrates gene expression, cold tolerance, organismal respiration, and population-level energetic modeling to identify regions where insect populations are most vulnerable.

CV
Akademische Bildung
2021: PhD in Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA
2015: MSc in Biology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, USA.
2012: BSc in Biology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, USA.

Berufserfahrung
2023-2025: Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Greifswald, Germany.
2021-2023: Postdoctoral Researcher at Stockholm University, Sweden.

Publikationen
Kevin's Google Scholar profile
2025

21) Schneider K, Roberts KT, Lehmann P, Janz N, Nylin S. (2025) Quantitative support for the metabolic load hypothesis: metabolic rate measures reveal host-dependent growth costs in a phytophagous herbivore. Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72509

20) Roberts KT, Bosua HJ, Lehmann P. (2025) Flexibility of metabolic rate to temperature coincides with diapause strategy. Biology Letters, 21(8), 20250192. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0192

19) Gérard M, Gardelin E, Lehmann P, Roberts KT, Sepúlveda-Rodríguez G, Sisquella S, Baird E (2024) Experimental elevated temperature affects bumblebee foraging and velocity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 291, 20241598. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1598

18) von Schmalensee L*, Süess P*, Roberts KT, Gotthard K, Lehmann P (2024) A quantitative model of temperature-dependent diapause progression in insects. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121 (36), e2407057121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.240705712

17) von Schmalensee L, Ittonen M, Shoshan AB, Roberts KT, Siemers I, Süess P, Wiklund C, Gotthard K. (2024). Methodological artefacts cause counter-intuitive evolutionary conclusions in a simulation study. Ecology Letters, 27 (6), e14439. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14439

16) Roberts KT, Steward RA, Süess P, Lehmann P, Wheat CW. (2024). A time course analysis through diapause reveals dynamic temporal patterns of microRNAs associated with endocrine regulation in the butterfly Pieris napi. Molecular Ecology 34, e17348. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17348

15) Sepúlveda-Rodríguez G, Roberts KT, Araújo P, Lehmann P, Baird E (2024). Bumblebee thermoregulation at increasing temperatures is affected by behavioral state. Journal of Thermal Biology, 103830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2024.103830

14) Zuelow A, Roberts KT, Burnaford JL, Burnett N (2024) Freezing and mechanical failure of a habitat-forming kelp in the rocky intertidal zone. Integrative and Comparative Biology, icae007. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icae007

13) Steward RA, Pruisscher P, Roberts KT, Wheat CW. (2024) Genetic constraints in genes exhibiting splicing plasticity in facultative diapause. Heredity 132: 142-155. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-024-00669-2

12) Süess P, Roberts KT, Lehmann P. (2023) Temperature dependence of gas exchange patterns changes predictably with diapause progression in the butterfly Pieris napi. Journal of Insect Physiology 104585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2023.104585

11) Roberts KT*, Szejner-Sigal A*, Lehmann P (2023) Seasonality of metabolic suppression: Are insects constrained by energy during dormancy? Journal of Experimental Biology 226, jeb245782. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.245782

10) Ittonen M, Roberts KT, Lehmann P, Gotthard K. (2023). A range-expanding butterfly is susceptible to cold and long winters but shows no signs of local adaptation to winter conditions. Functional Ecology 37: 3064-3078. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14445

9) Roberts KT, Stillman JH, Rank NE, Dahlhoff EP, Bracewell RR, Elmore J, Williams CM. (2023) A time course of gene expression suggests that montane leaf beetle prioritize digestion and reproduction during emergence from dormancy. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part D: Genomics and Proteomic 47, 101088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbd.2023.101088

8) Süess P, Dircksen H, Roberts KT, Gotthard K, Nässel DR, Wheat CW, Carlsson M, Lehman P (2022) Time- and temperature-dependent dynamics of prothoracicotropic hormone and ecdysone sensitivity during pupal diapause in the green-veined white butterfly Pieris napi. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 149, 1038337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2022.103833

7) Treidel LA, Huebner C, Roberts KT, Williams CM (2022) Life history strategy dictates thermal preferences across the diel cycle and in response to starvation in variable field crickets, Gryllus lineaticeps. Current Research in Insect Science 2, 100038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cris.2022.100038

6) Roberts KT, Williams CM. (2022) The impact of metabolic plasticity on winter energy use models. Journal of Experimental Biology 225(4) jeb243422. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.243422

5) Roberts KT, Rank NE, Dahlhoff EP, Stillman JH, Williams CM. (2021) Snow modulates winter energy use and cold stress through time and across elevation in a montane beetle. Global Change Biology 27:6103-6116. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15912

4) Sun BJ, Huebner C, Treidel LA, Clark RM, Roberts KT, Kenagy GJ, Williams CM. (2020) Physiological challenges to summer nocturnal flight in field crickets, Gryllus lineaticeps. Functional Ecology 14:1907-1920. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13615

3) Rank NE, Mardulyn P, Heidl SJ, Roberts KT, Zavala NA, Smiley JT, Dahlhoff EP. (2020) Mitonuclear mismatch causes reduction in performance and reproductive success in naturally-introgressed populations of a montane leaf beetle. Evolution 74:1724-1740. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.13962

2) Brandt EE, Roberts KT, Williams CM, Elias EO. (2020) Low temperatures impact species distributions of jumping spiders across a desert elevational cline. Journal of Insect Physiology, 122:104037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2020.104037

1) Dahlhoff EP, Dahlhoff VC, Grainger CA, Zavala NA, Otepola-Bello D, Sargent BA, Roberts KT, Heidl SJ, Smiley JT, Rank NE (2019) Getting chased up the mountain – high elevation may limit performance and fitness characters in a montane insect. Functional Ecology 33:809-818. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13286