Shawn R. Kuchta
Associate Professor Department of Biological Sciences Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies Ohio University Office: Life Science Building, Room 129 Lab: Life Science Building, Room 30 Mail: 107 Irvine Hall Phone: (740) 593-0224 email: kuchta [at] ohio [dot] edu I study the evolution of organismal biodiversity, including phylogeography & phylogenetics, species formation, adaptation, natural selection, polymorphism, and biodiversity conservation. I largely focus on salamanders, but students in my lab have also worked on frogs, snakes, lizards, turtles, and even damselflies. |
Graduate Students
Emily Watts
Ph.D. student Why species are constrained to have range limits is a classic question in evolutionary theory, Emily is studying range evolution, systematics, and phylogeography in the Cumberland Plateau salamander, Plethodon kentucki. |
Brian Waldron
Ph.D. student Brian's thesis is focused on biogeography and species interactions in the Eastern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus, including an exciting blend of genomics and field biology. |
Marissa Dowalter
MS student Marissa is co-advised with Diego Alvarado-Serrano. She is interested the conservation of Lake Erie Watersnakes, including patterns of genetic connectivity among islands. |
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Senior Analyst & Pace-of-Life Consultant
Squiggles Here investigating a printout of a draft Ensatina phylogeny, Squiggles spends most of his days eating vegetables and basking under his heat lamp. His favorite desert is blueberries, and his favorite pastime is digging in corners. I used to keep Squiggles in the lab, but because he is a pet I now have him at home, where he lives with dogs, cats, and goats. |