PEOPLE | research

Dr. Josh Otten (Ph.D., 2022)

Josh studied the long-term impacts of the 2010 oil spill and subsequent rehabilitation efforts on the river turtle community in the Kalamazoo River, Michigan. Josh is now a professor at Cornell College.

Dr. Ian Clifton (Ph.D., 2021)

Ian's research focused on thermal physiology, responses to climate change, and costs of behavioral plasticity in a lizard community of the Colorado Plateau. Ian is now a professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

DiCarlo Jackson (REU student, 2022)

DiCarlo used ARGOS satellite telemetry to study spatial ecology and track movement patterns of northern map turtles in the Western Basin of Lake Erie. He is now a graduate student at Penn State.

Paige Madden (M.S., 2023)

Paige worked as a field technician studying nesting ecology of rare turtles in the Oak Openings region. Her thesis research focused on genetic diversity and reproductive success in eastern box turtle and spotted turtle populations in Ohio and Michigan. Paige is now an Environmental Specialist for the City of Toledo.

Sarah Carter (M.S., 2021)

Sarah completed her Honors Thesis in the Refsnider lab on prey selectivity of the greater short-horned lizard in the Abajo Mountains, Utah. For her graduate research she studied landscape ecology and nest-site characteristics of box turtles and spotted turtles in Ohio and Michigan. Sarah is currently an Environmental Scientist at Leidos.

Nicholas Torres (REU student, 2021)

Nicholas worked with PhD student Josh Otten to analyze data on long-term effects of an oil spill in the Kalamazoo River on health of Northern map turtles.

Austin Hulbert (M.S., 2020)

Austin was a summer REU student in the Refsnider lab studying parasites and immune function in painted turtles. His M.S. research was on hatchling ecology of Eastern box turtles and spotted turtles and comparing methods of assessing animal locations. Austin is currently a Data Scientist for the Judicial Council of California.

Randy Thomas (B.S., 2019)

Randy worked on several projects in my lab to evaluate the health effects of human-caused environmental damage (oil spills, toxic algal blooms) on freshwater turtles. He is currently involved in research and conservation efforts for Mohave desert tortoises and was recently featured on Discovery+'s Shark Academy.

Alexis Diaz (REU student, 2019)

Alexis worked with Sarah Carter to study edge effects on nest-site choice and nest predation in box turtles and spotted turtles in the Oak Openings as an REU student in 2019. Alexis is now a PhD student at Stanford University.

Ashley Nunez (REU student, 2019)

Ashley was a summer REU student from Ursinus University. She worked with Dr. Henry Streby and Dr. Refsnider to study effects of harmful algal blooms on physiological stress levels in wetland-associated songbirds.

Jessica Garcia (M.S., 2018)

Jessica's research focused on how microcystin produced by harmful algal blooms affects the physiological stress and immune function of turtles and larval amphibians. Jessica now supervises shipping of hazardous materials for UPS in Cleveland.

Tyara Vazquez (M.S., 2018)

Tyara compared the effects of long-term vs. acute heat stress on physiological performance and heat-shock protein expression in horned lizards (Phrynosoma hernandesi). Tyara is now an Associate Compliance Analyst at the University

of Toledo.

Adam Siefker (B.S., 2018)

Adam has spent several field seasons at our study site in southeastern Utah working on the thermal biology of lizards and gray vireo ecology. He also monitored amphibian and reptile colonization of wetlands recently restored by The Nature Conservancy. Adam currently works for the Toledo Zoo.

Elizabeth Sanchez (REU student, 2016)

Elizabeth was a summer REU student in the Refsnider lab. Her project, “Differences in baseline stress levels among freshwater turtle species,” was published in the Journal of Herpetology.