PUBLICATIONS

OTHER LINKS:

Relyea Lab

Blaustein Lab (Oregon State University)

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University

Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association

Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

Globally, amphibians are declining at an unprecedented rate. Over one-third of all amphibian species are at risk of extinction. The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been implicated as a major cause of declines. While Bd is highly virulent within certain populations, it appears to be less virulent within other populations of the same species. I am interested in the roles that stressors such as competition and contamination play in increasing transmission rates between amphibians and virulence.

In addition, I hope to explore how pond community composition affects the prevalence and virulence of Bd. Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) are invasive on 6 continents, and have been implicated as an important reservoir hosts for Bd. While laboratory studies have showed that bullfrogs can carry Bd infections with few costs, no field studies have examined how bullfrog presence effects the epidemiology of Bd or what environmental factors affect the efficacy of bullfrogs as reservoir hosts within a habitat.

BACKGROUND:

I received my B.A. in earth and environmental sciences from Wesleyan University, in Middletown Connecticut. Upon graduating, I conducted snorkel surveys in the Salmon River watershed in Idaho as part of two investigations. One examined the transport marine derived nutrients (via salmon) throughout riparian food webs and the other was a behavioral study of the affects of nonnative brook trout on juvenile Chinook salmon. I then spent a year (2004-2005) teaching estuarine science at the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Mt. Vernon, WA. From 2005 to 2006, I conducted population surveys of juvenile and adult salmonids in Whatcom County, WA with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) and taught marine science to fifth graders aboard the Snow Goose, a 65' steel motorized yacht . In 2006 I drove across country to join the Relyea lab at the University of Pittsburgh.