Principal Investigator

I am interested in a wide array of topics, including maternal effects, thermal ecology, and the evolution of life histories. I work with ectothermic vertebrates, and I use non-model systems to answer fundamental and applied questions in evolutionary ecology and conservation.

Previously, I worked with Dr. Ron Brooks (MSc. U. Guelph), Dr. Jeff Hutchings (PhD. Dalhousie U.), and Dr. Locke Rowe (PDF University of Toronto). 

Most of my current research program is based out of Algonquin Park in Ontario.

PhD Students

Hollis is interested in how organisms diversify and evolve in dynamic geographic arrangements and environments. She holds a long-time enthusiasm for herpetology, as well as Chinese culture and language. An advocate for scientific outreach, cultural exchange, and international scientific collaboration, she will continue to travel to China and collaborate with researchers there.

Robin is studying the evolutionary ecology of temperature-dependent sex determination through a combination of meta-analytic and experimental approaches. In his free time, Robin enjoys BBQing and riding the Leviathan at Canada’s wonderland.

MSc Students

Dylan is interested in the study of how animals have adapted to use their habitat. He is currently researching the environmental mechanisms that drive mating system evolution in spotted salamanders at Algonquin Provincial Park. When he isn’t doing field work or teaching himself animal facts, Dylan enjoys spending his time rock climbing, camping and playing intramural dodgeball.

Alumni

CELINA YANG, MSc 2024

JESSICA LEIVESLEY, PhD 2023

CLAUDIA LACROIX, MSc 2023

PATRICK MOLDOWAN, PhD 2023

MARIEL TEREBIZNIK, MSc 2022

RYAN WOLFE, MSc 2022

MEGAN GREISHAR, POSTDOC, 2019

KATIE ZIEBARTH, MSc 2020 (co-supervised by MARIE-JOSEE FORTIN)

MELANIE MASSEY, MSc 2018

Undergraduate Alumni & Research Topics

2023

Emile Watanabe – REP/EEB267 – Vocalizations of snapping turtles

Wynn Murakami-Clisham – REP – Turtle nest digging behaviour

Justice King – REP – Salamander embryo growth models

Jack Gadoury – REP – Evolution of TSD

2022

Claire Voss – REP/EEB397 – Vocalizations of painted turtles

Germain Collinge Menard – REP – Salamander sex ratios

Lilian Chan – REP/EEB498 – Climate change effects on life histories

Yara Ghabra – REP – Sperm viability in spotted salamanders

2021

Teagen Netten – EEB498 – Morph frequencies of red-back salamanders

Gloria Gao – REP – Deformities in spotted salamanders

Jacqueline McLean – REP – Sex-specific energetics of amphibians

Rachel Fallas – REP – Chelonian nest timing

2020

Nick Ypelaar – REP – Spot patterns in spotted salamanders

2019

Malcolm Fenech – Social behaviour in adult turtles
Aisha Faruqui – EEB397 – Evolution and maintenance of TSD
Claudia Lacroix – EEB397 – Social behaviour in hatchling turtles
Dante Ravenhearst – EEB498 – Ecology and evolution of turtle barbles
Jared Connoy – EEB498 – Evolution of TSD and nesting patterns
Hayley Vlcek – REP – Nest site selection in painted turtles
Gloria Gao – REP – Abnormalities of spotted salamanders in natural ecosystems
Pallavi Pal – Trinity One Internship
Lucas Warma – Trinity One Internship

2018

Daire Crawford – REP – Condition-dependent reproductive timing in toads
Mariel Terebiznik – REP – Phenotypic – environmental correlation of sex in turtles
Lauren Lawson – EEB498 – Incubation regimes in turtle conservation programs
Natalia Hrynko – EEB498 – Reproductive biomass of amphibians in Algonquin

2017

Carter Rouleau – REP – Evolution of thermal reaction norms in turtles
Deborah Hawkshaw – EEB498 – Evolution of sexual weaponry in turtles
Ann Francis – REP – Nest site selection in natural vs anthropogenic sites
Christopher Reid – CGCS scholar – Climate change & early growth of turtles
Dana Berg – CGCS scholar – Climate change and phenology of turtles
Vivian Shum – NSERC USRA – Evolution of senescence in Daphnia

2016

Jessica Santilli – EEB498 – Bergmann’s Rule in Turtles
Lucian Wang – EEB398 – Evolution of maternal effects in Daphnia