A central goal of my research is to connect physiological mechanisms with evolutionary outcomes.

I am interested in determining when environmental change produces: plasticity, acclimation, physiological constraint, or evolutionary adaptation.

Rather than focusing exclusively on whether populations differ physiologically, I am interested in understanding why they differ, what mechanisms generate those differences, and whether those mechanisms predict resilience under future environmental conditions. 

Field Ecology

Field studies provide the ecological context for understanding physiological variation.

I have designed and conducted field research across urban-rural and environmental gradients, with an emphasis on identifying how naturally occurring environmental variation corresponds with physiological differences among populations.

Experience includes

• Field sampling of ectothermic vertebrates
• Urban-rural gradient study design
• Environmental gradient sampling
• Site selection and characterization
• Microhabitat measurements
• Population-level sampling
• Repeated seasonal sampling
• Experimental field protocols
• Ecologically replicated study designs

A major component of my research has been developing sampling designs that distinguish habitat-associated physiological variation from geographic and environmental variation.

Experimental Physiology

My laboratory research focuses on experimentally measuring physiological performance and tolerance under controlled environmental conditions.

Thermal physiology

I have experience designing and conducting experiments measuring:

• Thermal preference
• Critical thermal minimum (CTmin)
• Critical thermal maximum (CTmax)
• Thermal acclimation
• Seasonal physiological variation
• Diel variation in thermal tolerance
• Body temperature
• Operative environmental temperature
• Thermoregulatory behavior

I use controlled thermal environments to investigate how physiological traits respond to environmental history, season, time of day, and habitat.

This experimental approach allows me to distinguish fixed differences among populations from environmentally induced physiological responses.

Reproductive Physiology

I have also investigated how environmental variation affects reproductive physiology, including sperm performance and thermal tolerance.

This work extends my research beyond whole-organism thermal traits toward understanding how environmental stress can influence physiological processes directly related to reproductive performance.

Experience includes

• Sperm thermal tolerance experiments
• Sperm motility measurements
• Experimental temperature exposure
• Comparative analysis of reproductive performance across environments

Experimental Design

A central component of my research is experimental design.

I am particularly interested in designs that distinguish among:

Environmental effects
What happens when organisms experience different environmental conditions?

Population differences
Do populations differ in physiological traits?

Phenotypic plasticity
Does the same population respond differently under different conditions?

Environmental history
Does previous environmental exposure influence subsequent physiological performance?

Temporal variation
Do physiological responses change across seasons or times of day?

Quantitative Analysis

My quantitative work is focused on extracting biologically meaningful patterns from complex physiological and ecological datasets.

I primarily work in R and have experience using mixed-effects modelling, estimated marginal means, visualization, and statistical inference to evaluate physiological responses across experimental and environmental gradients.

Quantitative approaches include

• Linear mixed-effects models
• General and factorial experimental designs
• Interaction effects
• Repeated observations
• Random effects for individuals and sampling locations
• Estimated marginal means and post-hoc comparisons
• Model diagnostics
• Data visualization
• Reproducible data workflows

Spatial Analysis & GIS

Environmental variation occurs across space as well as time.

I have used GIS-based approaches to characterize habitat and environmental gradients and connect physiological observations with spatial variation in the environment.

Experience includes

• ArcGIS Pro
• Impervious-surface analysis
• Spatial environmental characterization
• Urbanization gradients
• Site-level environmental comparisons
• Linking field sites with landscape-level environmental data

These approaches provide a framework for integrating physiological measurements with the environmental conditions organisms experience in the field.