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JEANINEREFSNIDER
Herpetology, Evolutionary Ecology, and Global Change Biology
Current Research Projects
Eco-immunology: Human Impacts on Wildlife Health
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Anthropogenic disturbances to the environment sometimes cause easily observed wildlife mortality events. More commonly, however, such disturbances have sub-lethal impacts on the health of individuals, which can lead indirectly to population declines through shorter lifespans and decreased reproductive output. We are studying how anthropogenic disturbances – including climate change, chemical spills, harmful algal blooms, increasing salinity levels, and habitat fragmentation – affect wildlife health in terms of physiological stress levels, immune functioning, and gut microbiome composition.
Long-Term Effects of an Oil Spill on a Riverine Turtle Community
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In 2010, an oil pipeline in the Kalamazoo River ruptured, polluting 38 miles of the river and oiling at least 3800 turtles. We recently completed a study assessing the long-term effects of this oil spill on demography, reproductive success, and health of turtles along the spill gradient. We also used mark-recapture data collected at the time of the oil spill and 10 years later to assess the effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts and the homing ability of turtles translocated in the immediate aftermath of the spill. Our recent papers from this project are listed here.
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