Entomology

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Contact

Email: bkent@umd.edu

Office Phone: 301-405-3125

Fax: 301-314-9290

Office Address: University of Maryland * Entomology Department * Plant Sciences Building * College Park, MD 20742

Teaching

BSCI 207, Principles of Biology III
BSCI 392, Biology of Extinct Animals
BSCI 393, Biology of Extinct Animals Laboratory
ENTM 701, Effective Teaching: TA Training
CLFS 510, Concepts in Modern Biology
CLFS 609F, Priciples of Paleobiology
CLFS 710, Experimental Biology
CLFS 725, Experimental Design and Statistics

Graduate Program Affiliations

Master of Chemical & Life Sciences Online

Research Interests

Recent publications reflect my research interests. Two papers published in the paleontological journal, Mosasaur, concern the reconstructed paleobiology of a large, extinct lamnoid shark (Parotodus benedeni) based on an assemblage of 114 associated teeth from North Carolina. This assemblage is more than twice as large as any of the other three known for this species and the first from the Atlantic. Also published are two chapters in a monograph on a unique fossil assemblage from the Early Eocene of Virginia. The horizon is unusual in that it contains a rich, uncontaminated association of species, with a total of 32 shark and 18 ray species. My current research is on reconstructing the feeding behavior of extinct sharks using a biomechanical model of tooth function. As the departmental Director of Undergraduate Studies, I am responsible for producing the departmental portions of the Schedule of Classes each semester and the Undergraduate Catalog each year and coordinating the use of departmental resources for teaching and advising. I also server as an instructor amd Associate Director of the college's Master of Chemical and Life Sciences graduate program for biology and chemistry teachers.

Recent Publications

Kent, B. W. 1983. Diet expansion of Busycon contrarium in the absence of Triplofusus giganteus. Nautilus 97: 103-104.
Kent, B. W. 1983. Natural history observations on the whelks Busycon contrarium (Conrad) and Busycotypus spiratum (Lamarck). J. Moll. Stud. 49:37-42.
Kent, B. W. 1987. Fossil Sharks of Maryland: An Illustrated Guide. Glossopetrae Press, Takoma Park, MD, 52 pp.
Kent, B. W. 1992. Making Dead Oysters Talk: Techniques for Analyzing Oysters from Archaeological Sites (2nd edition). Maryland Historical and Cultural Publ., Crownsville, MD, 76 pp.
Kent, B. W. 1994. Fossil Sharks of the Chesapeake Bay Region. Egan Rees and Boyer, Inc., Columbia, MD, 146 pp.
Kent, B. W. 1996. Biology of Extinct Animals Laboratory Manual. Campus Reprographics, College Park, MD, 162 pp.
Kent, B. W. and G. W. Powell, Jr. 1998. Reconstructed dentition of the rare lamnoid shark Parotodus benedeni (le Hon) from the Yorktown Formation (Early Pliocene) at Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina. Mosasaur 6: 1-10.
Kent, B. W. 1998. Speculations on the size and morphology of the extinct lamnoid shark,Parotodus benedeni (le Hon). Mosasaur 6: 11- 15.
Kent, B. W. 1999. Part 2 - Sharks from the Fisher/Sullivan Site. In: R. E. Weems (ed.). Fossil Vertebrates and Plants from the Fisher/Sullivan Site (Stafford County): A Record of Early Eocene Life in Virginia. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, Publ. 152, pp. 11-37.
Kent, B. W. 1999. Part 3 - Rays from the Fisher/Sullivan Site. In: R. E. Weems (ed.). Fossil Vertebrates and Plants from the Fisher/Sullivan Site (Stafford County): A Record of Early Eocene Life in Virginia. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, Publ. 152, pp. 39-51.

Awards

UMCP College of Life Sciences Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching/Advising, 1993
UMCP Presidential Award for Outstanding Service to the Schools, 1994
UMCP Outstanding Faculty Author, October, 1994
Maryland Governor's Citation, 1995
American Fossil Federation Certificate of Appreciation, 1995
American Fossil federation Lifetime Appreciation Award, 1999
UMCP Certificate of Appreciation Award, 2004

Education

Oregon State University, B.S., magna cum laude, 1973
Oregon State University, M.S., 1976
University of Maryland, Ph.D., 1981