Lab Personnel
Current Graduate Students:
Jaclyn Reifeiss
Jaclyn joined the lab in the Fall 2023. She will be focusing her MS research on the social structure and mating system of Eastern Collared Lizards in the Arkansas Ozarks.
Jackson Holsted
Jackson joined us in the Fall 2023. He plans to examine the temporal consistency of bite force in Collared Lizards and the role habitat and social structure plays in mediating variation in performance.
Current Undergraduate Students:
David Adams
David joined us as a high school student, and is now an undergraduate at UCA. David is a jack of all trades and contributes to several different projects in the lab. Individually he is investigating seasonal, habitat, and sex variation in hormones and immune function in collared lizards. David is also helping develop individual based bioenergetic models for lizards.
Elian Mondragon
Elian is a freshman at UCA and is just joining the lab. He will be involved in several ongoing projects and working to develop independent research.
Zach Gordey
Zach is an environmental science major just joining us. He will be involved in several ongoing projects and working to develop independent research.
Former Graduate Students:
Amber Anderson
Amber finished her MS in Summer 2018. Her work focused on the factors influencing dispersal, population dynamics, and life history in Desmognathus brimleyorum.
Current whereabouts: Environmental consultant, Oakland California
Dr. Cody Barnes
Cody finished his Master’s in Spring 2012. His thesis work focused on variation in foraging ecology and energetics of salamanders endemic to the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and Oklahoma (Plethodon).
Current whereabouts: PostDoc, Oregon State University
Dr. Casey Brewster
Casey was a graduate student in Robert Sikes’ lab at UALR and worked closely with members of our lab. Casey examined the population ecology and thermal biology of collared lizards.
Current whereabouts: Professor, Northwest Arkansas Community College; Science Mercenary, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Dr. Jeremy Chamberlain
Jeremy finished his PhD in Summer 2016. His dissertation focused on life history variation along environmental gradients in watersnakes. He studied reproductive life history and growth rates between snakes from habitats varying in resource abundance.
Current whereabouts: Assistant Professor, Southern Arkansas University (Began Fall 2018)
Dr. Tim Clay
Tim finished his PhD in Spring 2016. His work focused on evolutionary and ecological physiology of salamanders in the Plethodon glutinosus group. In particular he examined relationships of physiology and competitive ability (i.e., aggression) between montane endemics and their lowland congeners. Link to Tim's personal website here.
Current whereabouts: Assistant Professor, Nicholls State University (Began Fall 2018)
Dr. Ian Clifton
Ian finished his MS in Summer 2016. He work examined shared and unique patterns of head shape variation among populations of watersnakes that differ in the availability and size of prey resources. His work combined traditional morphological approaches with experimental work in the lab.
Current whereabouts: Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Michael Deutsch
Mikie joined the lab in Fall 2020 after completing his MS in Zoology at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Mikie examined the influence of collared lizard predators on stress physiology and reproductive life history of prairie lizards.
Current whereabouts: Data Analyst, University of Washington
Andrew Feltmann
Andrew finished his MS in Summer 2019. His research focused on the role of serial founder effects in generating morphological and physiological divergence among semi-isolated populations of Collared Lizards in the Missouri Ozarks.
Current whereabouts: Working as a conservation professional with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
Katherine Lang
Katherine finished her thesis in Spring 2020. Her research used multivariate approaches to quantify tradeoffs among morphological, physiological, and performance phenotypes to better understand the evolution of phenotypic integration in lizards.
Current whereabouts: Job searching in Pennsylvania
Angie Lenard
Angie finished her MS in the Spring of 2018. She studied the metabolic physiology of lizard embryos using whole-embryo and cellular approaches.
Current whereabouts: PostDoc, University of Nevada, Reno
Justin Moseby
Justin finished his MS in the Fall 2021. He studied local variation in reproductive life history of the prairie lizard.
Current whereabouts: Gainfully employed with UPS and enjoying being a family man.
Samantha Pike
Sam finished her MS in our lab in the Fall 2016. She examined innate prey preferences in neonate watersnakes and the degree of flexibility in these preferences in response to early prey exposure.
Whereabouts Unknown
Marcia Polett
Marci finished her MS in the Fall of 2017. She studied maternal influences on developing lizard embryos. Specifically she examined the influence of maternal steroids on hatchling lizard morphology, performance, and fitness.
Current whereabouts: ?????
Joe Redinger
Joe finished his MS in the Spring 2021. He studied food web interactions in Ozark glade ecosystems, focusing primarily on interactions between a keystone predator (Eastern Collared Lizards) and their prey (grasshoppers and prairie lizards).
Current whereabouts: Chasing rattlesnakes and turtles in Michigan
Chris Robinson
Chris finished his MS in the Fall 2017. He studied the role of Testosterone in integrating male traits in prairie lizards and how it mediates natural and sexual selection.
Current whereabouts: PhD student, University of Virginia in Bob Cox's lab
Tanner Senti
Tanner finished his MS in the Spring 2023. He examined the role of macronutrients on the ecology and life history of prairie lizards.
Current whereabouts: Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
Dr. Vanessa Young
Vanessa finished her Master’s in Spring 2012. Her thesis focused on acclimation of metabolic physiology and locomotion in dusky salamanders (Desmognathus brimleyorum) from across their distributional range.
Current whereabouts: Associate Professor, Saint Marys College, South Bend Indiana (Began Fall 2017)
Former Undergraduate Students:
Amber Anderson
Amber worked in the lab conducting a project examining variation in physiology (stress sensitivity) and behavior (exploratory and anti-predator) among neonate watersnakes from three different populations with the ultimate goal of testing for genetic correlations between physiology and behavior. She also started a project on Desmognathus brimleyorum examining population dynamics and patterns of dispersal along a stream corridor, which she continued with us for her MS.
Laith Branton
Laith assisted Nick Ledbetter with the processing and cataloging of watersnake skulls for our quantitative genetics study of cranial morphology.
Emily Field
Emily joined the lab in Fall 2017. She worked on a project quantifying metabolic enzyme activities in crayfish muscle tissues and worked with Andrew in the Missouri Ozarks on the Collared Lizard project. Emily will started her MS in Fall 2019 with Lori Neuman-Lee at Arkansas State University.
Nick Goforth
Nick worked as an REU researcher. Along with Tim, he conducted experiments exploring variation in metabolic physiology and foraging energetics in high- and low-elevation species in the Plethodon glutinosus species complex. This work has revealed interesting patterns of thermal performance in species from alternative habitats. He completed his M.S. at Texas Tech University.
Current whereabouts: Job hunting, Bryant Arkansas
Nick Ledbetter
Nick is joined the lab in Fall 2015. In our lab he worked on projects examining the quantitative genetics of snake cranial shape utilizing geometric morphometrics.
Brandon Meek
Brandon examined tradeoffs between natural and sexual selection in crayfish.
Jackson Renfroe
Jackson helped with projects aimed at understanding the role of macronutrients in Prairie Lizard reproductive life history.
Kate Schute
Kate assisted on projects looking at the influence of maternal nutrition on reproductive output and fitness of hatchling lizards
Calvin Vick
Calvin joined us as a freshman in Fall 2018. Calvin assisted with several different project during his time in the lab.
Amanda Winters
Amanda worked in the lab as an REU student. She was involved with several different studies during her time in the lab.
Jaclyn Reifeiss
Jaclyn joined the lab in the Fall 2023. She will be focusing her MS research on the social structure and mating system of Eastern Collared Lizards in the Arkansas Ozarks.
Jackson Holsted
Jackson joined us in the Fall 2023. He plans to examine the temporal consistency of bite force in Collared Lizards and the role habitat and social structure plays in mediating variation in performance.
Current Undergraduate Students:
David Adams
David joined us as a high school student, and is now an undergraduate at UCA. David is a jack of all trades and contributes to several different projects in the lab. Individually he is investigating seasonal, habitat, and sex variation in hormones and immune function in collared lizards. David is also helping develop individual based bioenergetic models for lizards.
Elian Mondragon
Elian is a freshman at UCA and is just joining the lab. He will be involved in several ongoing projects and working to develop independent research.
Zach Gordey
Zach is an environmental science major just joining us. He will be involved in several ongoing projects and working to develop independent research.
Former Graduate Students:
Amber Anderson
Amber finished her MS in Summer 2018. Her work focused on the factors influencing dispersal, population dynamics, and life history in Desmognathus brimleyorum.
Current whereabouts: Environmental consultant, Oakland California
Dr. Cody Barnes
Cody finished his Master’s in Spring 2012. His thesis work focused on variation in foraging ecology and energetics of salamanders endemic to the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and Oklahoma (Plethodon).
Current whereabouts: PostDoc, Oregon State University
Dr. Casey Brewster
Casey was a graduate student in Robert Sikes’ lab at UALR and worked closely with members of our lab. Casey examined the population ecology and thermal biology of collared lizards.
Current whereabouts: Professor, Northwest Arkansas Community College; Science Mercenary, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Dr. Jeremy Chamberlain
Jeremy finished his PhD in Summer 2016. His dissertation focused on life history variation along environmental gradients in watersnakes. He studied reproductive life history and growth rates between snakes from habitats varying in resource abundance.
Current whereabouts: Assistant Professor, Southern Arkansas University (Began Fall 2018)
Dr. Tim Clay
Tim finished his PhD in Spring 2016. His work focused on evolutionary and ecological physiology of salamanders in the Plethodon glutinosus group. In particular he examined relationships of physiology and competitive ability (i.e., aggression) between montane endemics and their lowland congeners. Link to Tim's personal website here.
Current whereabouts: Assistant Professor, Nicholls State University (Began Fall 2018)
Dr. Ian Clifton
Ian finished his MS in Summer 2016. He work examined shared and unique patterns of head shape variation among populations of watersnakes that differ in the availability and size of prey resources. His work combined traditional morphological approaches with experimental work in the lab.
Current whereabouts: Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Michael Deutsch
Mikie joined the lab in Fall 2020 after completing his MS in Zoology at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Mikie examined the influence of collared lizard predators on stress physiology and reproductive life history of prairie lizards.
Current whereabouts: Data Analyst, University of Washington
Andrew Feltmann
Andrew finished his MS in Summer 2019. His research focused on the role of serial founder effects in generating morphological and physiological divergence among semi-isolated populations of Collared Lizards in the Missouri Ozarks.
Current whereabouts: Working as a conservation professional with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
Katherine Lang
Katherine finished her thesis in Spring 2020. Her research used multivariate approaches to quantify tradeoffs among morphological, physiological, and performance phenotypes to better understand the evolution of phenotypic integration in lizards.
Current whereabouts: Job searching in Pennsylvania
Angie Lenard
Angie finished her MS in the Spring of 2018. She studied the metabolic physiology of lizard embryos using whole-embryo and cellular approaches.
Current whereabouts: PostDoc, University of Nevada, Reno
Justin Moseby
Justin finished his MS in the Fall 2021. He studied local variation in reproductive life history of the prairie lizard.
Current whereabouts: Gainfully employed with UPS and enjoying being a family man.
Samantha Pike
Sam finished her MS in our lab in the Fall 2016. She examined innate prey preferences in neonate watersnakes and the degree of flexibility in these preferences in response to early prey exposure.
Whereabouts Unknown
Marcia Polett
Marci finished her MS in the Fall of 2017. She studied maternal influences on developing lizard embryos. Specifically she examined the influence of maternal steroids on hatchling lizard morphology, performance, and fitness.
Current whereabouts: ?????
Joe Redinger
Joe finished his MS in the Spring 2021. He studied food web interactions in Ozark glade ecosystems, focusing primarily on interactions between a keystone predator (Eastern Collared Lizards) and their prey (grasshoppers and prairie lizards).
Current whereabouts: Chasing rattlesnakes and turtles in Michigan
Chris Robinson
Chris finished his MS in the Fall 2017. He studied the role of Testosterone in integrating male traits in prairie lizards and how it mediates natural and sexual selection.
Current whereabouts: PhD student, University of Virginia in Bob Cox's lab
Tanner Senti
Tanner finished his MS in the Spring 2023. He examined the role of macronutrients on the ecology and life history of prairie lizards.
Current whereabouts: Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
Dr. Vanessa Young
Vanessa finished her Master’s in Spring 2012. Her thesis focused on acclimation of metabolic physiology and locomotion in dusky salamanders (Desmognathus brimleyorum) from across their distributional range.
Current whereabouts: Associate Professor, Saint Marys College, South Bend Indiana (Began Fall 2017)
Former Undergraduate Students:
Amber Anderson
Amber worked in the lab conducting a project examining variation in physiology (stress sensitivity) and behavior (exploratory and anti-predator) among neonate watersnakes from three different populations with the ultimate goal of testing for genetic correlations between physiology and behavior. She also started a project on Desmognathus brimleyorum examining population dynamics and patterns of dispersal along a stream corridor, which she continued with us for her MS.
Laith Branton
Laith assisted Nick Ledbetter with the processing and cataloging of watersnake skulls for our quantitative genetics study of cranial morphology.
Emily Field
Emily joined the lab in Fall 2017. She worked on a project quantifying metabolic enzyme activities in crayfish muscle tissues and worked with Andrew in the Missouri Ozarks on the Collared Lizard project. Emily will started her MS in Fall 2019 with Lori Neuman-Lee at Arkansas State University.
Nick Goforth
Nick worked as an REU researcher. Along with Tim, he conducted experiments exploring variation in metabolic physiology and foraging energetics in high- and low-elevation species in the Plethodon glutinosus species complex. This work has revealed interesting patterns of thermal performance in species from alternative habitats. He completed his M.S. at Texas Tech University.
Current whereabouts: Job hunting, Bryant Arkansas
Nick Ledbetter
Nick is joined the lab in Fall 2015. In our lab he worked on projects examining the quantitative genetics of snake cranial shape utilizing geometric morphometrics.
Brandon Meek
Brandon examined tradeoffs between natural and sexual selection in crayfish.
Jackson Renfroe
Jackson helped with projects aimed at understanding the role of macronutrients in Prairie Lizard reproductive life history.
Kate Schute
Kate assisted on projects looking at the influence of maternal nutrition on reproductive output and fitness of hatchling lizards
Calvin Vick
Calvin joined us as a freshman in Fall 2018. Calvin assisted with several different project during his time in the lab.
Amanda Winters
Amanda worked in the lab as an REU student. She was involved with several different studies during her time in the lab.