Current Members
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
Undergraduate Researcher
My general interests are both marine and terrestrial ecology and wildlife conservation. I am working on research to explore if ultraviolet radiation has an effect on lizard behavior and locomotor capacity, first using eastern fence lizards. I then plan on extending this study to a species in Arizona, the ornate tree lizard, which are exposed to significantly more UV than the fence lizards. I will compare my findings for these two different species and hope to present those findings at JMIH 2026.
Project title: Impact of UV on physiological performance capacity
Email:
grace[dot]buecker[dot]24@cnu[dot]edu
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
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
M.S., August 2024
Impacts of elevation on photoregulation in lizards
Thesis on ProQuest
Dylan Bryant
B.S., Spring 2023
Morphological responses to recent climate change
MS lab page - V Tech
LinkedIn Page
Abigail Reed
M.S. (Non-Thesis), Spring 2022
Natural and sexual selection impacts on coloration
Publication - Ethology, Ecology &
Evolution
Dane Conley
B.S., Spring 2021
Behavioral regulation of Ultraviolet (UV) light in lizards
Publication - Functional Ecology
Scholar Page
Jenell Glover
B.S., Spring 2020
Sexual selection on quantitative color expression
Publication -
Behaviour
ResearchGate Page
Michael Buontempo
B.S., Spring 2020
Ecogeographic variation in snake dorsal coloration
Publication -
Herpetologica
UTEP MS
lab page
Cynthia Morris
M.S. (Non-Thesis), Spring 2019
Spatial variation in lizard antipredator behavior
Publication -
Behaviour
LinkedIn Page
Dawson Brown
B.S., Spring 2019
Environmental perturbations of evolutionary games
Publication -
Behaviour
Madison McCann
M.S., Fall 2018
Physiological responses to climate change
Publication - Herpetologica
Maleah Manion
B.S., Spring 2018
Ecomorphological variation among distinct populations
Publication - Herpetologica
Will Ternes
M.S., Spring 2018
Drivers of spatial variation in trophic niches
Publication - Evolution
News - Hellbender Conservation
Zach Martin
M.S., August 2017
Spatial drivers of color pattern diversity in snakes
Publication - Ethology
Julie Taylor
B.S., Spring 2017
Boldness and social dominance, natural selection on widespread species
Publication - Ethology
Publication - Evolution
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.