I completed a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Washington University in St. Louis in 2007. While there, I conducted experiments on the effects of a common agricultural contaminant on the oviposition behavior of the gray treefrog, Hyla chrysoscelis, under the direction of Dr. James Vonesh. This project sparked my interest in global amphibian population declines and led to my desire to pursue a PhD in this field.

Scientists agree that the reasons for global amphibian decline are varied, with strong evidence for habitat loss, increased levels of UV radiation, invasive species, climate change, emerging infectious diseases, and agricultural contaminants as contributing factors. These stressors may operate independently of one another, but their effects are more likely to be synergistic and context-dependent. As a graduate student in Zoology at OSU, I plan to use GIS techniques and the program MARK to investigate the way spatial structure of amphibian populations can affect their response to multiple stressors. My research is supported through an NSF graduate fellowship.

Here I am tagging a Pseudacris regilla metamorph for a project on the population-level effects of limb deformities.

Email: Buckj@science.oregonstate.edu