Isaiah Jernberg, Undergraduate (2008-2010)

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Isaiah dreams of becoming a dentist. In fact, he wants it more than that little elf did in the claymation version of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. But to earn his way into dental school, he spent two years cleaning vials and making food for fruit flies. When he wasn't performing such menial chores, he worked out protocols for measuring the expression of heat shock proteins in flies.

As a freshman, Angie was recruited to help Mike organize materials for his book. She also found time to collate data for a meta-analysis of the thermal plasticity of body size. She is now moving on to medical school to specialize in rural health. 

Jeff Tharp, Undergraduate  (2008-2010)

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Jeff helped to maintain lines of fruit flies for studies of thermal acclimation. He is also measured the effect of fluctuating temperatures on the development of cell size in flies. Jeff will soon graduate and pursue a career in medicine. 

Brandon Cooper, M.S. (2007-2009)

B.S., Indiana State University

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Brandon tested models of optimal acclimation in stochastic environments. For this work, he founded isofemale lines of Drosophila melanogaster from populations along a latitudinal gradient. These lines were used for experimental studies of acclimation in the laboratory.  By focusing on the thermal sensitivity of reproductive performance, which has a clear relationship to fitness, Brandon overcame a major limitation of studies that focused on locomotor performance.

Joe Ehrenberger, M.S. (2006-2010)

B.A., Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Joe quantified geographic variation in thermal physiology among four clades of the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus). Specifically, he compared thermal sensitivities, thermal preferences, and thermal tolerances between northern and southern populations. These data are being used to parameterize a mechanistic model of the impact of global climate change on the geographic range of this species. The modeling portion of this research relies on collaboration with Lauren Buckley of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Matt Schuler, M.S. (2007-2009)

B.S., University of Wisconsin

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Matt studied the effects of spatial variation in temperature on the thermoregulatory behavior of Sceloporus jarrovi. This research took him to New Mexico each summer, where he essentially led the field crew in the perennial absence of the principle investigators. Currently, Matt is pursuing a Ph.D. at Washington University in St. Louis.

Dee Asbury, M.S. (2005-2008)

Dee investigated thermodynamic constraints on the evolution of physiological performance. In particular, she evaluated the hypothesis that warm-adapted fish grow faster than cold-adapted fish at their respective optimal temperatures. This hypothesis stems from biochemical principles, but has rarely been demonstrated empirically. Dee also modeled the effects of this thermodynamic constraint on the evolution of thermal physiology in variable environments. 

Ben Williams, B.S. (2007-2009)

Ben was a member of the lab for so long, I thought he was a graduate student. Ben initially helped with our comparative study of lizard physiology and later became involved in a study of urban physiology, which he presented at the 2008 SICB Meeting in San Antonio. Currently, Ben is pursuing a medical degree at Indiana University. One day, I will call on him to unclog my coronary artery. 

Marcin Czarnoleski, Fulbright Fellow (2008)

Ph.D., Jagiellonian University

Marcin was a visiting scholar in the lab from February to December of 2008. He maintains a strong interest in the links among environmental temperatures, cell sizes, and life histories. He is currently investigating geographic variation in the cell sizes of lizards in collaboration with Joe Ehrenberger. He has also studied the effects of thermal variation on the cell sizes of Drosophila melanogaster in collaboration with Brandon Cooper. 

Nick helped with our field experiment in New Mexico during the summer of 2008. He was in charge of characterizing the thermal quality of our experimental arenas with operative temperature models. Currently, Nick is a sophomore majoring in Physics.

Melissa studied the mechanisms that enable embryos from cold environments to develop and grow more rapidly than embryos from warm environments.  Her research resulted in a paper published in the Journal of Experimental Biology (Storm & Angilletta 2007).  Currently, she teaches biology in South Carolina.

Somayeh helped to measure the respiration of lizard embryos from populations along a latitudinal cline. She was integral to the success of Melissa Storm's thesis research. Currently, Somayeh is pursuing a career as an optometrist.

Amanda helped with a phylogenetic comparative study of embryonic growth and development.  She was integral to the success of Chris Oufiero's thesis research and co-authored a paper on the scaling of egg size and composition with maternal size (Oufiero et al. 2007).

Chris compared the growth and development of embryonic lizards from warm and cold environments. He also studied the evolution of egg size in response to environmental temperature. This research resulted in several publications (Angilletta et al. 2006; Oufiero & Angilletta 2006; Oufiero et al. 2007). Currently, Chris is pursuing a doctoral degree in biology at the University of California at Riverside, where he continues to conduct research on geographic variation in life-history traits.

Mike Sears, NSF Posdoctoral Fellow  (2002-2004) 

Mike developed the first spatially explicit models of thermal landscapes as part of his research funded by NSF. He participated in several related projects and helped to organize a symposium on the evolution of thermal plasticity in growth rate and body size. Currently, Mike is an Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University, where he continues to collaborate with our lab on studies of thermoregulation in complex thermal landscapes.