Members of the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab
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Carissa Adams (M.S. Student, 2022 NASA WV Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellow, Graduate Assistant, 2022-Present)
Carissa joint the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab in January 2022. Her thesis research focuses on mark-recapture error rates in eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) monitoring programs. Carissa’s other research interest include conservation of diamondback terrapins and wading birds in southeastern marsh ecosystems. Prior to MU, Carissa worked with diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) for the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and with black rails (Laterallus jamaicensis) for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. In 2017, she graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. in Environmental and Natural Resources-Conservation Biology. |
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Sarah Ebert (M.S. Student, 2023 NASA WV Space Grant Consortium Graduate Research Fellow, Graduate Assistant, 2022-Present)
Sarah’s interests include herpetology, wildlife management, and conservation biology. For her thesis, Sarah is using camera traps to estimate the population size of Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes at a long-term monitoring site in South Carolina. She has previously conducted research on the effects of erosion control materials on snakes, the effectiveness of roadway exclusion fences for toads, and heavy metal contamination in insects. Sarah graduated with a B.S. in Biology from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2019. |
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Casey Hitchens (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant, 2022-Present)
Casey joined the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab in January 2022. Her research interests include wildlife biology, mammalogy, landscape ecology, and conservation biology. Casey’s thesis research focuses on population ecology and post-translocation monitoring of the Southern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger niger) in Coastal South Carolina. Her previous research as an undergraduate student included studying the translocation of the Delmarva fox squirrels throughout southeastern Delaware and monitoring the endangered Piping Plover breeding population along the Delaware coast. Casey graduated from Bridgewater College in May 2020 with a B.S. in Environmental Science. |
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Morgan Page (M.S. Student, Smith-Goodno Fellow, Graduate Assistant, 2022-Present)
Morgan joined the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab in Fall 2022 as a Smith-Goodno Fellow. Her thesis research will focus on modeling the decline of Eastern Spadefoots, Smallmouth Salamanders, Northern Leopard Frogs, and Blanchard’s Cricket Frog along the Ohio River and its tributaries. Her research interests include community ecology and conservation biology, and she has previously conducted lizard community surveys across Texas and Puerto Rico. Morgan graduated from Oklahoma State University in May 2020 with B.S. in Natural Resources Ecology and Management. |
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Wade Sullivan (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant, 2022-Present)
Wade joined the lab in Fall 2022. Wade’s research interests include herpetology, conservation biology, and physiology. He graduated in 2022 from Marshall University with degrees in Philosophy and Creative Writing. |
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Matthew Gacheny (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant, 2022-present)
Matthew’s research interests include reptile thermal and reproductive ecology. For his M.S. thesis project, he is investigating how microhabitat thermal profiles influence Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake overwintering and gestation site selection. Matthew’s previous research experience has involved riverine turtle diet and reproductive ecology as impacted by anthropogenic habitat modification, changes in snake foraging movement in response to wildlife management methods, bat hibernacula selection, quail population ecology, and snake community ecology. Matthew graduated with a B.S. in biology with a concentration on organismal biology and ecology from Towson University, Maryland, in 2019. |
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Emily Langer (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant, 2022 – Present)
Emily joined the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab in Fall 2022. Emily graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife & Fisheries Resources and Conservation Ecology from West Virginia University in 2016. She has previously worked as an AmeriCorps biological technician with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researching and monitoring amphibians. Emily’s research interests include conservation biology and behavioral ecology. Her thesis research will focus on overwintering ecology of eastern diamondback rattlesnakes. |
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Maya Fink (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant, 2024-Present)
Maya joined the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab in May 2024. Her research interests include mammalogy, conservation biology, and behavioral ecology. Maya’s thesis research focuses on post-translocation monitoring of Southern fox squirrels (Sciurus niger niger) in coastal South Carolina. Her previous research as an undergraduate student included an assessment novel camera trapping methods for small mammals, tracking wild hogs (Sus scrofa) on the Clemson University Experimental Forest, and examining occupancy of swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus) in wetland/riparian areas across South Carolina. Maya graduated from Clemson University in May 2024 with a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. |
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Tucker Cribb (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant, 2024-Present)
Tucker joined the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab in May 2024. His research interests include wildlife management, conservation biology, and spatial ecology. Tucker’s thesis research focuses on Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake movement ecology with respect to habitat structure. As an undergraduate, Tucker studied the movements and habitat selection of invasive wild hogs in South Carolina. Tucker graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology in 2024. |
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Emily Gray (Project Manager)
Emily oversees day to day operations in South Carolina, works closely with graduate students in the field, and manages collaborative research initiatives and project deliverables. Emily's research interests include herpetofaunal conservation biology, physiological ecology, and behavioral ecology. |
