People in the lab

I work with a network of student collaborators, postdocs, technicians, and researchers from academia, NGOs, and the federal government to understand how interactions between landscape modification and climate change influence biodiversity.  I work with partners on two modeling projects using landscape connectivity models for conservation planning in the United States, and have field projects describing amphibian and reptile responses to habitat loss and fragmentation in Colombia and Bolivia.  I teach Principles of Biology III, General Ecology, Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Conservation Biology, Environmental Earth Science, and Earth Systems Science at JCU. 

MS Students

Julia Laterza Barbosa

Julia works with colleagues to collect hormone samples from salamanders in northeast Ohio

Julia received her BS in Biology from Universidade Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2014.  She has since worked on animal translocations as part of environmental remediation efforts associated with hydroelectric projects in the Brazilian Amazon.  For her Master’s work, Julia is interested in understanding the demographic consequences of translocation for amphibians and reptiles. 

Zack Lange

Consuelo Alarcon Rodriguez

Consuelo wrangling a Clelia clelia in Peru

Consuelo received her BS from the Universidad San Antonio Abad del Cusco in Peru and has been involved in several herp-themed projects in the Peruvian Amazon.  For her MS work, Consuelo will be developing niche models to understand how historical conditions have influenced the current distribution of false coral snakes (Oxyrhopus). 

Undergraduate research students

Blake Dixon

Blake (left) works with JCU undergrads and graduate students to survey leaf little plots in the Allegheny National Forest

Blake is a junior Environmental Science major using lab experiments to describe the thermal biology of the Eastern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus. 

Zee Molter

Photo coming soon

Zee is using a global forest cover map to sample the magnitude of habitat loss and fragmentation in forest ecosystems around the world. 

Samantha Skerlec

Sam with a Spotted salamander during a nocturnal survey at a local field site

Sam is a junior Environmental Science major who has worked on several landscape connectivity projects in the lab, and is currently using experimental landscapes to understand movement dynamics of the Eastern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus. 

Arianna Zrzavy

Photo coming soon

Arianna is a junior Environmental Science major working on a collaborative project with Dr. Jean Burns at Case Western Reserve University and Dr. Juliana Medeiros at the Holden Arboretum to understand niche evolution in Rhododendron species.