People
Principal Investigator:
Lee A. Fitzgerald
Associate Professor
Chief Curator - Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection
PhD 1993, University of New Mexico
Research Focus: Evolutionary ecology and conservation biology of amphibians and reptiles
(email)
Research Associate:
Laura R. Laurencio
B.S. 2001, Texas A&M University
M.S. 2004, Texas A&M University
Research Focus: Landscape ecology related to the Sand Dune Lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus)
Current PhD Students:
Rosa Leny Cuellar
M.S. 1997, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Bolivia
Research Focus: Community Management of wildlife by indigenous people in Bolivia
(email)
Dan Leavitt
B.A. 2001, Keene State College
M.S. 2007, Sul Ross State University
Research Focus: Influence of invasive species upon native herpetofaunal communities
(email)
KJ Lodrigue, Jr.
B.S. 1997, Louisiana State University
M.S. 2000, Louisiana State University
Research Focus: American alligator population dynamics
(email)
Current Master Students:
Mike Hill
B.S. 2003, Western New Mexico University
Research Focus: Nesting ecology of Sceloporus arenicolus
(email)
Heather Prestridge
Assistant Curator - Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection
B.S. 1997, Texas A&M University
Research Focus: Non-game reptile and amphibian trade and management
(email)
Nicole Smolensky
B.S. 2002, University of California at Santa Cruz
Research Focus: Lizard population enumeration and anthropogenic impacts on lizard densities
Mike Treglia
B.S. 2007, Cornell University
Research Focus: Effects of anthropogenic activities on
reptile habitat preferences and populations
(email)
Past Postdocs:
Dr. Felix B. Cruz CONICET Investigator, National University, Bariloche, Argentina
Dr. Gabriela Perotti CONICET Investigator, National University, Bariloche, Argentina
Past Graduate Students
Amanda Subalusky (M.S. 2007)
Thesis Title:
Currently working as a Research Assistant in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University
David Laurencio (M.S. 2007)
Thesis Title: Environmental correlates to amphibian and reptile diversity in Costa Rica
Currently working as Research Assistant in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University
David Henderson (M.S. 2006) - Non-thesis
Paper Title: An Introduction
to the Mescalero Sands Ecosystem
Currently working on Ph.D. in Philosophy at Texas A&M University under Dr. John McDermott
Dr. Gage Dayton (M.S. 2001; Ph.D. 2005)
Dissertation Title: Community
assembly of xeric-adapted anurans at multiple spatial scales
Thesis Title: Abiotic and biotic factors affecting nonrandom distributions of Chihuahuan Desert Anurans
Currently working on a postdoctoral research project at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories:
http://phycology.mlml.calstate.edu/Gage.htm.
Dr. Dan Saenz (Ph.D. 2004)
Dissertation Title:
Ecological correlates of anuran breeding activity and community structure
Currently working for the U.S. Forest Service as a Research Wildlife Biologist
Margarita Mieres (M.S. 2002)
Thesis Title: Monitoring and managing the harvest of tegu lizards in Paraguay
Currently in doctoral program at Texas A&M University under Dr. William Grant
Wade Ryberg (M.S. 2002)
Thesis Title: Genetic relationships of American alligator populations distributed across different ecological and geographic scales
Currently in doctoral program at Washington University under Dr. Jon Chase: http://www.biology.wustl.edu/faculty/chase/personal_pages/wade/Wade_Personal.htm
Claudia Ceballos (M.S. 2001)
Thesis Title: Native and exotic freshwater turtle and tortoise trade in Texas
Currently in doctoral program at Iowa State University under Dr. Nicole Valenzuela:
http://www.public.aistate.edu/~ceballos/homepage.html
Rossy Montaño (Licenciatura 2001: Santa Cruz University, Bolivia)
Currently Biologist at Wildlife Conservation Society-Bolivia and Curator of Herpetology at Museo de Historia Natural Noell Kempf Mercado, Santa Cruz Bolivia
Dr. Toby Hibbitts (M.S. 2000)
Thesis Title: Morphological and ecological convergence in two natricine snakes
Received Ph.D. at the University of the Witswatersrand, South Africa in 2006. Currently Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles at the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection at Texas A&M University: http://wfscnet.tamu.edu/TCWC/Herps_online/Hibbitts/Hibbitts.html
Ryan E. Nelson (M.S. 1999)
Thesis Title: Habitat selection and thermal biology of a large aquatic ectotherm, the alligator snapping turtle (Macroclemys temminckii)
Currently a Senior Scientist at Crouch Environmental Services in Houston,TX
Dr. Laura E. Vega, (PhD 1999, Universidad Nacional Mar del Plata, Argentina)
Currently Vertebrate Lab Coordinator at Universidad Nacional Mar del Plata, Argentina
Christina Morales, (M.S. 1996, UNELLEZ, Venezuela)
Currently Profesor Adjunto at National University of Asunción, Paraguay and a biologist for Guyra, Paraguay, a NGO affiliated with Bird Life International
Herpetology at Texas A&M ۰ TCWC ۰ Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences ۰ Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program ۰ Texas A&M University