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Stephen Richter. Assistant Professor and PI. Stephen is interested generally in evolution, natural history, conservation biology, and ecological genetics of vertebrates, primarily amphibians. A portion of his research focuses on contemporary and recent-history processes that affect and shape the distribution and abundance of animals at the local (population) and landscape (geographic distribution) scale. Another portion is focused on evolutionary history of species, both within species ranges and among species. He has used a range of tools, including molecular genetic techniques, field and experimental studies, historic data, radio-telemetry, and GIS. E-mail. | |
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Michelle Guidugli. M.S. student. Michelle's research interests pertain to conservation, especially of amphibians. She is interested in several aspects of conservation, including surveys of distribution and abundance, effects of human land use on populations, and development of areas where amphibians and humans can coexist with minimal impact on one another. E-mail. | |
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Emily Gustin. M.S. student. Emily's core interest is conservation, especially understanding factors that lead up to the need for conservation efforts and what it takes to develop a successful conservation protocol. Emily is also interested in genetics and the role it plays in species survival. For her M.S. thesis research, she is studying populations of two leopard frog species (northern and southern) in a narrow zone of sympatry in KY. One aspect will address whether the two species are partitioning the habitat where they co-occur and to what degree they are interbreeding (if at all). If they produce a hybrid, she plans to compare the fitness of the hybrid relative to the parental species. E-mail. | |
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Jeff Jackson. M.S. student. Jeff's research interests pertain to conservation at the population level. With habitat fragmentation becoming more abundant as human populations expand, understanding population biology is key to sustaining species. His M.S. thesis research will focus on populations of federally threatened gopher tortoises in coastal Mississippi. He will use genetic data (microsatellite DNA) to examine population connectivity and see if habitat fragmentation is affecting tortoise movements across the landscape. E-mail. | |
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Jeremiah Alexander. B.S. Honors student. Jeremiah's honors thesis will consist of the development and implementation of an introductory RNAi laboratory for Bio 531, Principles of Molecular Biology. Jeremiah's previous independent research project was a collaborative effort between our lab and the lab of Dr. Michael Dorcas (Davidson College). We used microsatellite DNA to address the effects of urbanization on salamander populations in the Charlotte, NC metropolitan area. Jeremiah plans to attend medical school after graduation. E-mail. | |
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Cynthia Carter. B.S. Honors student. Cynthia is a forensic science student interested in molecular genetics. For her honor's thesis, Cynthia is focusing on differences between twins and siblings in inheritance of traits from parents. She will be collecting morphological and molecular genetic (microsatellite DNA) data from siblings, fraternal twins, and identical twins and their parents to determine if inheritance differs between fraternal-twin and non-twin siblings. Cynthia is also our student lab mananger. E-mail. | |
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Carol Buker, Alfred Kokwaro, and Josh Williams. B.S. students. This group is studying the mitochondrial gene order of amphibians in the context of evolutionary (phylogenetic) history. The group is taking a bioinformatic approach and downloading available data (via GenBank) to analyse number of rearrangements and evolutionary history of rearrangements. Additionally, they are determining gene order for deliberately chosen species to fill gaps in our knowledge. E-mail. | |
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Cheyenne Davis, Ibrahim Jadoon, and Chris Ratliff. Model High School students. This group has been visiting our lab over the past year to learn about scientific research by attending lab meetings, shadowing lab members, and learning relevant concepts and techniques. Over the next two semesters, they plan to assist on a research project by choosing from those ongoing in the lab. E-mail. |
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Nina Hensley. Nina graduated in May 2007 and was a biology major and honor student interested in conservation. Her thesis focused on conservation genetics and examined genetic variation and genetic affinity of the two known populations of US Endangered gopher frogs, Rana sevosa. Results of her study combined with results of other studies in the lab will aid in refining conservation priorities for this species. E-mail. | |
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Pierce Johnson. Post-graduate student. Pierce’s current interest is the identification of ectomycorrhizal species on oak trees located in the EKU Maywoods Natural Area. Pierce completed an MS in Biology in December 2003. (He also has an MBA and a BS, MS, and PhD in electrical engineering.) His MS research addressed the ecological role of mycorrhizae in temperate oak forest communities with special reference to oak regeneration. Morphological identification of four mycorrhizal species were identified on the roots of a single white oak tree. Pierce is seeking to obtain DNA sequence data from some of the trees sampled using ITS primers. E-mail. | |
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Alisha Lykins. Alisha graduated in May 2007 and was a forensic science major who worked with human microsatellite DNA to develop a course module for the biology department's molecular techniques course. Her protocol allows students enrolled in the course to genotype themselves at 5 microsallite loci, which are currently used in human forensic labs as part of the CODIS system. E-mail. | |
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Chris Porter. Chris graduated in Dec 2006 and was a forensic science major who worked with microsatellite PCR primers that were developed for Dusky Gopher Frogs (Rana sevosa) by our lab to evaluate their ability to cross-amplify in other species. Chris is currently a MS student in the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama and is studying human diseases using nematodes as a model. E-mail. | |
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Kristina Best. Kristi graduated in May 2006 and was a biology major interested in conservation of aquatic ecosystems. Her research project was a survey of amphibians and reptiles of Muddy Creek developed to gather baseline data to compare disturbed and undisturbed portions of the creek. Kristi is currently a MS student at Kentucky State University working on the conservation of an endangered freshwater mussel through captive breeding of the host fish. E-mail. |
Graduate students can pursue a wide variety of field and laboratory based research projects in ecology, conservation biology, or evolutionary biology. Projects are also available for undergraduate honors research or independent study. If you have any questions about the lab or our research, or to inquire about joining the lab, please call 859.622.8688 or e-mail Dr. Richter. |
