Alumni of the Month
Alayna Tokash completed her MS degree in 2018 investigating the effects of head-starting on terrapin growth. She compare growth rates of head-starts to that of two wild terrapin populations in Chesapeake Bay including our control group on Poplar Island. Her research identified that head-starts have a different growth curve from the wild populations and that their accelerated growth has a lasting affect into maturity. The accelerated growth enables female terrapin to mature at 2-3 years earlier than their wild counterparts thereby having a positive effect on population growth rate. Alayna also complete an undergraduate thesis studying variation in terrapin reproductive output and showed that egg size variation within clutches increase as the nesting season progresses. Alayna now works as a GIS specialist and environmental consultant for a private firm and lives in Pittsburgh.
|
Students and Alumni of the Roosenburg Lab Starting in 1987
Dr. Chris Howey got his Ph.D. working in my lab investigating the effects of prescribed fire on herpetofuanal community dynamics with particularly emphasis on the thermoregulatory behavior and performance of the Black Racer (Coluber constrictor). Chris used a physiological ecology approach to show that habitat differences created by fire increased snake density but also increased metabolic rates through changing the thermoregulatory behavior. Chris went on to do post-doc in the lab of Tracy Langkilde at Penn State funded by a substantial grant from Pennsylvania to study Timber Rattlesnakes. Chris is currently an assistant professor at the University of Scranton living close to his study sites of his favorite animal the Timber Rattlesnake.
Joe Reiger worked with me for two summers as an undergraduate in the late 90's at the Patuxent River, Cremona field site. Joe went on to get a Masters degree working with William Resitarits at Old Dominion University. Joe is currently Deputy Director of Restoration working for the Elizabeth River Project in Norfolk Virginia. Joe's work is a fascinating project to restore one of the most polluted rivers in North America. He has been active in shoreline restoration and building oyster reefs to clean and restore this inner city river. I remember fondly working with Joe in the field clowning with Atlantic Croaker asking them to tell us where the turtles are. I'd like to think that Joe's passion for the Tidewater and eating crabs started with his experiences working on the terrapin field crew
Dr. Paul Converse: Paul got his Ph.D. at Ohio University working with me and Dr. Shawn Kuchta. Paul's work conducted an in-depth look at the population structure of terrapins in Chesapeake Bay and also throughout their range. Among his most interesting findings was that the traces of the trade and introduction of terrapins of the early 1900's left a genetic signature that could still be detected almost 100 years ago. Paul also worked at the Poplar Island site during the summer and helped direct field research for several years. Paul's work is published and available at the www.dtwg.org. Paul is happily living in Seattle, Washington and works as a science and math teacher at Yellow Wood Academy.
Dr. Nicholas Smeenk completed his Masters Degree in 2010 working in the Roosenburg Lab. Nick initiated the terrapin mark-recapture program at Poplar Island Ecosystem Restoration Project in Maryland that has allowed us to follow the fate of our head-started turtles relative to wild-released hatchlings. This project continues today and has been passed on to other students in the lab over the years. After leaving the lab Nick went to the University of Nebraska to get his Ph,D. in 2019 at the School of Natural Resources. Nick is currently in Ohio working on reptile and amphibian conservation, in particular working on hellbenders, massagauas, and spotted turtles. He also is one of the founding members of OH-PARC and has been active in the society.
Dr. William Cresko: Bill was a field assistant while he was an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1990's while I was a graduate student. He worked on a project trying to develop a trap door in crab pots that would allow turtles to escape and crabs to stay in. Unfortunately, we could not get the trap doors to work but be he went on to co-author a paper as an undergraduate where we were able to use extended crab pots to estimate terrapin catch rates in crab pots. Bill went on to get his Ph.D. and is currently a Professor at the University of Oregon and has a very active research lab working on really interesting questions in evolution and development.