Moved to the University of Guelph!After an epic road trip from Colorado to Ontario, I'm excited to be parking the car for a bit and getting started on my new chapter as a Centre for Ecosystem Management Postdoc in the Bernhardt Lab.
In this position, I'll continue tackling questions about organismal physiology and species vulnerability to climate change, but with a direct application to the Great Lakes basin. I'm looking forward to learning new approaches and techniques to further investigate these questions and to work in new study systems! Stay tuned for more info! |
PhD Defended!
I had so much fun presenting and defending my dissertation research!
My incredible advisor, Chris Funk, organized what he called "Operation Maple Leaf", a top-secret plan to have the entire audience donning Canada gear (check out his awesome Canadian frog shirt in the photo)! I was completely surprised and blown away. JT would be proud! Big thank you to everyone who joined in for the seminar and celebration! If you're interested in watching the seminar, it is available here. |
Available Online: Critical pedagogy of place to enhance ecological engagement activities.
Field Season 2022
Another tailed frog field season completed!
This summer, I headed back out to Oregon to wrap up sampling for the tailed frog projects with Jacey Murphy, an undergraduate researcher. Over two months, we sampled many populations, performed countless physiological experiments, replaced all in-stream temperature loggers, and still found time for pie. We faced obstacles from the weather, but managed to complete everything we needed to do and most of what we wanted to do - a success!
I am back in Fort Collins and have retired my waders and nets. My focus this upcoming year is to share the results from these excursions and be ready for whatever big adventure awaits. Who know, maybe those waders will come out of retirement.
This summer, I headed back out to Oregon to wrap up sampling for the tailed frog projects with Jacey Murphy, an undergraduate researcher. Over two months, we sampled many populations, performed countless physiological experiments, replaced all in-stream temperature loggers, and still found time for pie. We faced obstacles from the weather, but managed to complete everything we needed to do and most of what we wanted to do - a success!
I am back in Fort Collins and have retired my waders and nets. My focus this upcoming year is to share the results from these excursions and be ready for whatever big adventure awaits. Who know, maybe those waders will come out of retirement.
SICB 2022
What a great start to the year!
I had such a fun time at my first ever SICB! I was thrilled to be able to present our work on the impacts of acute temperature responses on estimates of acclimation capacity and inferences of vulnerability. I was even more thrilled to be a part of DEE's Best Student Presentation Ray Huey Award Symposium. I enjoyed the amazing talks I got to see (and am looking forward to watching even more on SICB+) and got to meet and reconnect with such great scientists. Can't wait for next year's SICB! |
SoGES Sustainability Leadership Fellow
I was fortunate to be selected as a 2021-2022 School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES) Sustainability Leadership Fellow!
Throughout the year, I gained valuable training in science communication, time management, and working with the media to promote my research - shoutout to COMPASS for leading a phenomenal, intensive workshop! My cohort included fellow graduate students and postdoctoral researchers across the university, all with the same goals of developing leadership skills to further sustainability goals. I highly recommend the program and am so grateful to have been a part of it! Check out my profile and guest post for the HumanNature blog on using computer simulations to predict biodiversity loss!
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Field Season 2021
I headed back to the beautiful streams in Oregon to continue our tailed frog vulnerability project and to add another dimension: predatory coastal giant salamanders!
Having missed the 2020 field season due to travelling restrictions, I was very happy to return to our field sites and find most of our in-stream temperature loggers still logging! Phew! My main goals this summer were to collect the final pieces for our NSF Rules of Life proposal and to support the project's REU student, who was investigating thermal tolerance differences between the coastal tailed frog and the coastal giant salamander. Once these goals were met, I happened to have a bit of time left before needing to return to Fort Collins. Luckily, I was able to take that time and complete my lofty goal for the season (which I didn't think I would get to even try for!): collect data for a new and very exciting project regarding tailed frog vulnerability (no spoilers here... yet). One of the most enjoyable parts of this season was reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. I'm very grateful to everyone who helped make this summer field season successful, including the adorable Moxy and Vida Café. |
Work Study Student Opportunity!
The Funk lab tailed frog project is looking for a work study student keen on gaining lab skills for the 2021 spring semester. This lab work is part of a larger project investigating trends in vulnerability to climate change along elevation gradients.
What you can expect to gain:
- Foundational lab skills, including how to work safely, basic equipment usage, and keeping a lab notebook.
- Learn techniques for performing complete nucleic acid extractions and quantification.
- Be part of a diverse research team, including undergraduate researchers. We encourage our undergraduate researchers to develop their own interests and projects.
You do not need to have any previous research experience!
The Funk lab tailed frog project is looking for a work study student keen on gaining lab skills for the 2021 spring semester. This lab work is part of a larger project investigating trends in vulnerability to climate change along elevation gradients.
What you can expect to gain:
- Foundational lab skills, including how to work safely, basic equipment usage, and keeping a lab notebook.
- Learn techniques for performing complete nucleic acid extractions and quantification.
- Be part of a diverse research team, including undergraduate researchers. We encourage our undergraduate researchers to develop their own interests and projects.
You do not need to have any previous research experience!
How you can apply:
Send me:
Advice for putting together a cover letter for this position:
Here are some other resources to check out!
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out (see my Contact page). |
Available Online!
Cytonuclear discordance, reticulation and cryptic diversity in one of North America's most common frogs. NA Cairns, AS Cicchino, KA Stewart, JD Austin, & SC Lougheed In this paper, we use nuclear & mitochondrial markers as well as male advertisement calls to uncover interesting evolutionary patterns among the genetic lineages of the widespread spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer). We find extensive mitonuclear discordance and evidence of call differentiation in only one genetic lineage. Click the link to learn about our hypotheses for the evolutionary history of the species. As Nick puts it, it is a tale of "discordance by land and trees". A must-read! |