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Lab Members

Current and past members of our research group

Current Members


Matthew Lattanzio
Matthew S. Lattanzio, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator
I am interested in how organisms interact with, and respond to, environmental variability at various scales, with an emphasis on reptiles and amphibians. My research spans ecology, physiology, evolutinary biology, behavior, thermal biology, and electronic engineering. Work in the lab crosses boundaries, often integrating some combination of field, lab, museum, community science, and small electronics work to address our hypotheses.
Email: matthew[dot]lattanzio@cnu[dot]edu

Grace Buecker
Grace Buecker

Undergraduate Researcher
Research areas: Physiology, Ecology, Behavior
Project title: Impact of UV on physiological performance capacity
Email: grace[dot]buecker[dot]24@cnu[dot]edu

Marcus Williams
Marcus Williams

Undergraduate Researcher
Research areas: Physiology, Ecology, Biodiversity, Conservation.
Marcus is currently working on two projects, one on the ecogeographic drivers of shell pattern diversity in eastern box turtles and another on the role of the parietal eye in UV light sensing in lizards.
Email: marcus[dot]williams[dot]22@cnu[dot]edu

Ke'alani Sison
Ke'alani Sison

M.S., Spring 2025 (Congratulations!!)
Ke'alani recently successfully defended her thesis entitled Form, Function, and Flight: Urbanization Impacts on Trait Relationships in Ornate Tree Lizards. Her work explored how an urbanization gradient affects not only antipredator responses (e.g., flight distances), but also underlying connections between the morphology and performance traits that we expect drive those responses.
Email: kealani[dot]sison[dot]18@cnu[dot]edu



Lab Alumni


Andreanna Schultz
Andreanna Schultz

M.S., August 2024

Impacts of elevation on photoregulation in lizards
Thesis on ProQuest

Marlena Hamilton
Marlena Hamilton

M.S., Fall 2023

Physiological variation in salamanders
Thesis on ProQuest

Dylan Bryant
Dylan Bryant

B.S., Spring 2023

Morphological responses to recent climate change
MS lab page - V Tech
LinkedIn Page

Abigail Reed
Abigail Reed

M.S. (Non-Thesis), Spring 2022

Natural and sexual selection impacts on coloration
Publication - Ethology, Ecology & Evolution

Dane Conley
Dane Conley

B.S., Spring 2021

Behavioral regulation of Ultraviolet (UV) light in lizards
Publication - Functional Ecology
Scholar Page

Jenell Glover
Jenell Glover

B.S., Spring 2020

Sexual selection on quantitative color expression
Publication - Behaviour
ResearchGate Page

Michael Buontempo
Michael Buontempo

B.S., Spring 2020

Ecogeographic variation in snake dorsal coloration
Publication - Herpetologica
UTEP MS lab page

Cynthia Morris
Cynthia Morris

M.S. (Non-Thesis), Spring 2019

Spatial variation in lizard antipredator behavior
Publication - Behaviour
LinkedIn Page

Dawson Brown
Dawson Brown

B.S., Spring 2019

Environmental perturbations of evolutionary games
Publication - Behaviour

Madison McCann
Madison McCann

M.S., Fall 2018

Physiological responses to climate change
Publication - Herpetologica

Maleah Manion
Maleah Manion

B.S., Spring 2018

Ecomorphological variation among distinct populations
Publication - Herpetologica

Will Ternes
Will Ternes

M.S., Spring 2018

Drivers of spatial variation in trophic niches
Publication - Evolution
News - Hellbender Conservation

Zach Martin
Zach Martin

M.S., August 2017

Spatial drivers of color pattern diversity in snakes
Publication - Ethology

Julie Taylor
Julie Taylor

B.S., Spring 2017

Boldness and social dominance, natural selection on widespread species
Publication - Ethology
Publication - Evolution

Kylie Krohmaly
Kylie Krohmaly

B.S., Spring 2017

Male mate choice in color polymorphic lizards
Publication - Ethology
LinkedIn Page



Research Assistants

We also gratefully acknowledge the many students who have contributed to our ongoing efforts over the years as research assistants. The following individuals have served as research assistants in our lab (listed in reverse chronological order):

Jillian Zarro, Austin Newman, Lily Styers, Melissa Downs, Rebecca Hardesty, Hailey Green, Krista Reed, Margaret Monroe, Dahria Kalmbach, Nihal Guennouni, Nicollette Sanford, Alexa Jeremiah, Eric Miller, Amber Tran-Ha, Rachel Haley, Kyrie Estes, Matthew Miro, Madeline Bateman, Macy Friend, Rebecca Cerva, Hannah Powell, Joan Zimmerman, Jacqueline Bucsa, Holden Mitchell, John Southward, Celeste Wheeler, Renee Harding, Kara Evans, Bonnie Porter, Craig Stine, Martin Beal, Jeff Cronin, Kevin Metro, and Aaron Cranford.