Members of the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab
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Haley Gipson (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant, 2025-Present)
Haley joined the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab in June 2025. Her research interests include human dimensions of wildlife management, conservation biology, herpetology, and invasive species ecology. Haley graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in May 2025 with a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. Her research as an undergraduate included anuran monitoring and invasive plant management in Tennessee. Her thesis research will focus on population ecology of eastern diamondback rattlesnakes. |
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Sydney Hermann (M.S. Student, 2023-Present)
Sydney's research interests include herpetology, habitat management, and endangered species conservation. She is a joint member of the Axel Lab and the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab. Her thesis research focuses on large woody debris management effects on riparian salamander population dynamics in the Monongahela National Forest. She has previous research experience with remote monitoring techniques for Madagascan lemurs, bat monitoring in Appalachia, grassland ecology, and watershed conservation. Sydney graduated with her B.S. in Wildlife Biology from Texas State University in 2019. |
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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's 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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Emily Langer (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant, 2022-Present)
Emily joined the Herpetology and Applied Conservation Lab in Fall 2022. She 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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Emily Gray (M.S., Project Manager)
Emily helps oversee 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. She graduated from Florida State University with a B.S. in Biological Sciences in December 2020 and completed her M.S. in Biological Sciences at Marshall University in May 2025. |
