ProfessorOhio University
Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University
131 Life Sciences Building
Athens, Ohio 45701
Email: urosaurus@gmail.com
Phone: 740-593-2317
Research Disciplines: Research Interests:
Eco-physiology, Life History Patterns, Demography, Community Ecology, Climate Change, Species Distributional Modeling, Lizards, Passerines, Conservation Biology, Population Dynamics
View Donald's CVBiographical Sketch
I am currently a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Ohio University. I have conducted research on a variety of organisms, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. My interest in evolutionary and ecological physiology has taken me to a diversity of habitats and climates to work on how organisms are adapted to extreme environments. Most of my research has involved species that inhabit desert environments. My main study sites are in southern California, southern Arizona, and Central New Mexico, but I also worked in Baja California and various localities in Mexico. I have worked in cool climates as well. I studied shorebird physiology at the Northern Studies Centre in Churchill, Manitoba and high elevation lizards in the Andes of Argentina. I also have research projects emphasizing bird populations in southern Ohio .
Education
I received a BA in Zoology at the University of California at Berkeley. I went on to obtain a Masters degree in Biostatistics at the University of Cambridge, England. Finally, I earned a Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in Population Biology.
Other Research
I am interested in how amphibians, reptiles and birds respond to anthropogenic change. I use a variety of methods for addressing this general question. My research with amphibians and reptiles involve the use of eco-physiological and biophysical models for predicting population persistence in changing habitats. I use models for characterizing the change in thermal environments and water availability. I study animal behavior to understand how species shift habitat use as the thermal environment becomes more extreme and as droughts become more pervasive. I use historical data to evaluate changes habitat occupancy of amphibians, reptiles and birds. I integrate evidence of range shifts with biophysical models to predict future distributions.