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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 Stephen. | |
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Robert Bragg. M.S. student. Rob joined the lab after completing his BS in Biology from Ball State. He is broadly interested in the conservation and ecology of amphibians, particularly salamanders. This includes studying anthropogenic consequences for amphibians populations, and developing conservation strategies to lessen their impacts. Rob plans to focus his M.S. thesis research comparing aspects of salamander ecology between populations inhabiting artificial and natural ephemeral wetlands. E-mail Rob. | |
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Andrea Drayer. M.S. student. Andrea joined the lab after completing a B.S. from Penn State University, which she followed with three years working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. She has research experiences ranging from reptile and ampbibian ecology and conservation to black bear spatial ecology. Andrea’s current interests encompass many aspects of amphibian and reptile ecology and conservation. She is most concerned with anthropogenic influences on amphibian populations and their habitats. Avenues of research she is interested in span population dynamics, landscape and aquatic ecology, and development of successful mitigation practices. E-mail Andrea. | |
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Michelle Guidugli. M.S. student. Michelle joined the lab after completing a B.S. from Northern Kentucky University. Michelle's current 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. Her M.S. thesis research examines reproductive and spatial ecology of a pond-breeding amphibian community in a woodland-grassland habitat at Central Kentucky Wildlife Management Area. E-mail Michelle. | |
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Emily Gustin. M.S. student. Emily joined the lab after completing a BA from Lafayette College, which she followed with an internship with the Audobon Center for Research of Endangered Species (New Orleans) and other research experiences with various endangered and non endangered carnivores, birds, and ungulates. Arizona endangered pygmy owls and endangered cacti, in ArizonaEmily'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) across a narrow zone of sympatry in KY. She is addressing how well morphological traits correspond to species ID, where the two species occur in the state, and whether the two species are interbreeding. E-mail Emily. | |
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Schyler Nunziata. M.S. student. Schyler joined the lab after completing her BS from Towson University. Her research interests include the ecology and conservation of amphibians, focusing on the impacts of land use on salamander populations. Her main research interest is ecotoxicology, looking at amphibians that utilize stream systems. Schyler’s M.S. thesis research will investigate the effect of acid mine drainage on stream salamander communities. E-mail Schyler. | |
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Christopher St. Andre. M.S. student. Chris joined the lab after completing his BS from Bridgewater State College. He has had a broad range of research working with dragonflies, turtles, snakes, and amphibians and is interested in the conservation and protection of reptile and amphibian species. Using GIS he has modeled habitats of species in attempts to help protect them. His M.S. thesis will consist of examining fine scale movements of amphibians across a heterogeneous landscape. E-mail Chris. | |
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Emily Gilbreath. B.S. Honors Biology student. Emily's broad interests range from conservation to taxonomy to invasive species control. She is most interested in ecosystem restoration as a career path. Currently she is investigating amphibian species diversity in ponds and how this relates to local- and landscape-level variables. Ultimately, she hopes to reclaim and restore altered land to its natural state. E-mail. |
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Jeff Jackson. M.S. Biology student, who graduated August 2009. Jeff's M.S. thesis research focused on populations of federally threatened gopher tortoises in coastal Mississippi. He used genetic data (microsatellite DNA) to examine population connectivity and if habitat fragmentation was affecting tortoise movements across the landscape. Currently, Jeff is an instructor of biology at Somerset Community College in Kentucky. | |
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Chad Downey. B.S. Biology and McNair Scholar student, who graduated in Spring 2009. Chad is a biology major interested in conservation biology and environmental science. His McNair Scholars Program research project investigated the impacts of stream quality on salamander abundance and health. | |
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Natochia Henry. B.S. Forensic Science Honors student, who graduated in Spring 2009. Tochia's broad interests are in cellular and molecular biology. Her Honor's thesis research investigated genetic variation within captive populations of the endangered gopher frog, Rana sevosa and determined relatedness of individuals in multiple zoo populations to guide decisions about selecting pairs to maximize genetic diversity. She is currently working in a research lab at the University of Wisconsin where she will begin a PhD program in Cellular and Molecular Pathology in Fall 2010. | |
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Erin Madeen. B.S. Forensic Science and McNair Scholar student, who graduated in Spring 2009. Erin's broad interests are in environmental and molecular toxicology. Her McNair Scholars Program research addressed examining genetic variation across the range of gopher frogs (Rana capitoand R. sevosa. She is currently a PhD student in the Evironmental and Molecular Toxicology Program at Oregon State University. | |
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Josh Williams. B.S. Honors Biology student, who graduated May 2009. Josh worked on two projects: one addressed mitochondrial genome order of amphibians in the context of evolutionary (phylogenetic) history and the other (his honor's thesis) addressed population genetics of gopher tortoises based on hatchling genetic variability within and among clutches. Currently Josh is working on his PhD at the University of Kentucky studing amphibian evolution. | |
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Jeremiah Alexander. B.S. Honors Biology student, who graduated December 2008. Jeremiah's honors 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. | |
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Carol Buker B.S. Biology student, who graduated May 2008. Carol worked with Josh Williams to study the mitochondrial gene order of amphibians in the context of evolutionary (phylogenetic) history. Carol is currently working on her MD at the University of Kentucky. | |
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Cynthia Carter. B.S. Honors Forensic Science student, who gradauted in May 2009. Cynthia worked on various projects in the lab and served as lab technician for two years. | |
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Cheyenne Davis, Ibrahim Jadoon, and Chris Ratliff. Model High School students. This group visited our lab over a year to learn about scientific research by attending lab meetings, shadowing lab members, and learning relevant concepts and techniques. | |
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Nina Hensley. BS Honors Biology student, who graduated in May 2007. Nina's honors 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. | |
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Pierce Johnson. Post-graduate Biology 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. | |
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Alisha Lykins. B.S. Honors Forensic Science student, who graduated in May 2007. Alisha 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. | |
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Chris Porter. B.S. Honors Forensic Science student, who graduated in Dec 2006. Chris 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 completed his MS in Molecular Biology at the University of Alabama and is now working as a research technician at Vanderbilt Medical Center. | |
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Kristina Best. B.S. Wildlife Management student, who graduated in May 2006. 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. |
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. |
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