Current Graduate Students
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Maggie Smith (M.S. student, Graduate Assistant 2017) Maggie’s research interests include ecology, herpetology, and conservation biology. Her research projects include fire effects in longleaf pine savannas and monitoring the rare species Rana capito and Ambystoma cingulatum in the Francis Marion National Forest of South Carolina. She graduate with B.S. degrees in Biological Sciences and Environmental and Natural Resources from Clemson University in 2014. |
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Jessica Cantrell (M.S. student, Graduate Assistant 2016-present)
Jessica's research interests include herpetology, life history strategies, historical ecology, and conservation biology. For her thesis research, she is interested in the 2016 Magicicada emergence in WV and the possible conservation message that it brings, from the community role as “citizen scientists” to the cicadas’ role as bioindicators. Jessica received her B.S. with a major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Marshall University in 2015. Her previous research as an undergraduate student involved the effects of limestone treatments on the head morphology on Northern Spring Salamander larvae. |
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Mya Wiles (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant, 2020-present)
Mya's research interests include wildlife ecology, herpetology, and conservation biology. Her thesis will compare a new, non-invasive wildlife survey technique to other traditional survey techniques used for estimating terrestrial snake occupancy. Specifically, she will be applying environmental DNA (eDNA) to a terrestrial system by sampling soils from under artificial cover boards and comparing occupancy as determined by the different survey methods. She has previously conducted artificial cover surveys for snakes in Massachusetts and assisted with various other wildlife and conservation projects in the northeast. Mya graduated from Unity College in May 2020 with a B.S. in Biology. |
Elizabeth Johnson (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant 2019-present)
Elizabeth’s research interests include herpetology, wildlife management, and conservation
biology. For her thesis, she is conducting a translocation study of timber rattlesnakes
(Crotalus horridus) at two state forests in West Virginia. Specifically, she is looking at how
different translocation treatments effect the movement ecology of the snakes, in order to
reduce human-snake conflicts. Elizabeth graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in
May 2017 with a B.S. in Wildlife Management.
Elizabeth’s research interests include herpetology, wildlife management, and conservation
biology. For her thesis, she is conducting a translocation study of timber rattlesnakes
(Crotalus horridus) at two state forests in West Virginia. Specifically, she is looking at how
different translocation treatments effect the movement ecology of the snakes, in order to
reduce human-snake conflicts. Elizabeth graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in
May 2017 with a B.S. in Wildlife Management.
Alex Foote (M.S. Student, Graduate Assistant, 2018)
Alex’s research interests include herpetology, conservation biology, and genetics. He graduated in 2015 with a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Oregon. Recently, he has worked on conservation projects with Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles and Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs.
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Nicholas Bolin (M.S. student, Graduate Assistant, Smith-Goodno Fellow) Nicholas' interests lie in the ecology and evolutionary relationships of vertebrates, particularly amphibians. For his thesis project, he is investigating the demography of eastern hellbender populations in West Virginia. Nicholas received B.S. degrees in Biology and Chemistry in 2018 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Prior to his arrival at Marshall, he assisted with research on temperature-dependent sex determination in hawksbill sea turtles. |
Having fun way up high in Rocky Mountain National Park while attending Pathways: Human Dimensions of Wildlife conference in Estes Park, CO, September 2017. Pictured (Left-Right, back row): Jayme Waldron, Zella May Welch, Maggie Smith, Rachel Arrick, Jessica Cantrell, Mike Jungen; Front, left to right: Zach Ross, Kate Amspacher, and Oscar Welch.
