Ecology and evolution of mainland and island Anolis lizards

Ecology and evolution of mainland and island Anolis lizards

I am currently interested in understanding why and how evolutionary and ecological process differ between island and mainland environments. I’m addressing these questions usinga group Central American Anolis lizards as a case study.

Host-microbiome interaction in Ensatina salamanders

I completed my Master’s degree at San Francisco State University (Vredenburg/Zink labs), where I explored variation in skin-associated microbial communities (microbiomes) on several subspecies of Ensatina eschscholtzii salamanders. The field of amphibian microbiome research is relatively new, so for my project I set out to answer several basic questions about the host-microbiome relationship. First, are skin microbial communities are primarily obtained from the environment or other members of the population (or community)? Second, does the skin microbial community change over ontogeny? Third, how does the skin microbiome change across a hybrid zone?