Research
Rapid Responses to Wildfire
Collaborators: Jason Dunhum, W. Chris Funk, Brenna R. Forester, Cameron Ghalambor, Erin L. Landguth, Alisha Shah.
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Wildfires are becoming more frequent and more severe, exposing organisms to extreme environmental changes.
This project investigates the immediate and long-term impacts of the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire on tailed frog populations. We are combining environmental, physiological, and genomic data from populations before and after the fire to understand if and how these populations responded. We are then integrating these results into CDMetaPOP, a landscape genetic simulation program, to understand the long-term consequences of the fire on population persistence.
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Conservation Physiology and Vulnerability
Collaborators: W. Chris Funk, Brenna R. Forester, Alisha Shah, Erin L. Landguth, Cameron Ghalambor, Jason Dunhum, and N. LeRoy Poff.
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Predicting how populations of species will respond to changes in their environment is a major goal for conservation biologists.
This project contributes to our ability to reach this goal by investigating patterns in vulnerability along ecological gradients using tailed frogs (Ascaphus spp.). This is an ongoing, collaborative project that integrates environmental heterogeneity (at both broad and fine scales), tadpole physiological variation, and genomic variation to uncover the adaptive capacity of population along elevation. These studies will help us understand which populations may be at greater risk from warming. A recent study from this project investigated the acclimation capacity of Ascaphus spp. using an experimental design that accounts for acute temperature effects (i.e., passive plasticity). Be sure to check back in for more information about this study and others! |
Amphibian Ecology & Evolution
Collaborators include: Christina Martinez, W. Chris Funk, Brenna R. Forester, Stephen C. Lougheed, Nick A. Cairns, and Grégory Bulté.
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Amphibians are a diverse group of species that are sensitive to their external environment. One of the goals of my research focuses on investigating and understanding the diversity of traits within this group as they relate to their local environments. Some of the completed and ongoing studies that contribute to this project:
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My research is generously supported by:
Joint Fire Science Program
National Science Foundation
Natural Science & Engineering Council of Canada
Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
Society for the Study of Evolution
PRSE, Colorado State University
American Society of Ichthyology and Herpetology
J Allen Keast Lake Opinicon Fellowship
Joint Fire Science Program
National Science Foundation
Natural Science & Engineering Council of Canada
Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
Society for the Study of Evolution
PRSE, Colorado State University
American Society of Ichthyology and Herpetology
J Allen Keast Lake Opinicon Fellowship