We are interested in the effects of urbanization, invasive species, climate change, and other human-related changes on wild populations of a wide range of species. The breadth of our work is constantly growing, with some of our favorite projects presented below.
Each holds important lessons about the rules of life and the future of biodiversity in a human-dominated world.
When poaching drives evolution
In Gorongosa National Park, the oldest elephants are the lone survivors of the Mozambican Civil War, which lasted 15 years and killed about 90% of the large mammal species.
Elephants were killed for their tusks, which could be sold as ivory to finance weapons. We are searching for the genetic basis of this trait and assessing evidence for poaching-mediated selection during the war.
Life in the big city
In cities across Puerto Rico, the crested anole has found a place in the urban jungle, invading the concrete and buildings of metropolitan areas from dense forests across the island.
We are trying to understand how city lizards have adapted to the increased heat and artificial structures of their new city homes and if different populations have found the same adaptive solutions to success.
Taking back Chernobyl
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster released more than 100,000 lbs. of radioactive material into the atmosphere, resulting in the evacuation of 14,000 residents and the human abandonment of a 4,000 km2 exclusion zone.
Since then, native wildlife have reclaimed much of the exclusion zone, getting bathed in the remnant ionizing radiation from the disaster. We are studying the adaptation, following generations of radiation exposure, in the wolves that call Chernobly home.
Finding an adaptive solution to pollution
For more than 30 years, the Tower Chemical Company improperly disposed of DDT, a known endocrine disruptor, along with other toxic chemicals. These chemicals spilled into Lake Apopka, FL during a rain event in 1980.
By the early 1990’s, the American alligator population in Lake Apopka had become an important model for understanding the impacts of endocrine disruptors. We are studying this population to understand how reproductive systems may be adapted to function in the face of high levels of reproductive toxins.
A land of open graves
In 1994, the United States Border Patrol adopted “Prevention Through Deterrence,” which fortified official ports of entry and their surrounding areas, funneling undocumented migrants into remote regions of the most extreme desert biomes on the planet. In the decades since, thousands of migrants have perished in the desert attempting to cross the border.
We are studying physiological stress of humans attempting to make these harrowing journeys to better understand the biological costs of political decision making.
