People

My primary research interests are in the ecology and evolution of parasitic diseases. My current research focuses on the thermal biology of amphibian parasites and snail-borne infections, with potential implications for effects of climate change on worldwide amphibian decline and human health. Past research projects have included studies of host reproductive strategies, drivers of harmful algal blooms, and effects of pollutants on aquatic ecosystems. Other academic interests include applied statistics and active learning strategies for science classrooms.

While in the Raffel lab, Hunter has used respirometry and infection experiments to study thermal metabolic responses in green frogs, spring peepers, Cuban tree frogs, and red spotted newts. He has also studied thermal responses in chytrid fungus zoospores.

Vitoria started in the Raffel Lab in 2019 as a M.S. student. Her main objective is to investigate temperature effects on amphibians' ability to fight off chritridmycosis infection, fungus infection known to be associated with dramatic amphibian population decline around the world.

While at the Raffel Lab, Jay works with african clawed frogs to investigate Bd transmission. He also works with spring peepers to study thermal biology and respiration.

Andrea is broadly interested in disease ecology as it relates to environmental changes and their effects on public health and the integrity of the environment. She is in the MS program, and her current research goals include studying the effect of temperature acclimation on a host's ability to mount an immune response.

I am broadly interested in predicting biological phenomena using mechanistic (or biologically-relevant) models, using the Metabolic Theory of Ecology as a framework. My work in the Raffel lab consisted of developing and testing theoretical MTE models describing the thermal biology of parasitism in trematode flatworms and chytridiomycosis, and interrogating those models with empirical data.

I am interested in how climate change influences species interactions. Specifically, I have studied how temperature variation influences the interaction between amphibians and their parasites. For my dissertation, I investigated how thermal acclimation influences amphibian susceptibility to parasites. I am also interested in how differences in host and parasite thermal performance drive the temperature dependence of infection.

I am drawn to ecology because I am interested in how human activities impact interactions between organisms. My goal is to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity through research, education, and management. My M.S. research focused on how temperature variation influences the parasites responsible for swimmer's itch in North American lakes and schistosomiasis in more tropical regions.

As a masters student, I investigated the impacts of human-related alteration to the quality of a basal resource (leaf-litter) in forested ponds on the development of a larval amphibian (the consumer), and found that elemental composition of litter can greatly alter larval growth and developmental trajectories. As a Ph.D. student I continued this theme by investigating the interactions between both bottom-up (decomposition) and top-down (parasitism) forces on larval amphibian development and physiology.

I am broadly interested in the connections between ecosystem processes and diversity. Environmental conditions determine what species are where. In turn, species alter environmental conditions. My interests lie in understanding those patterns and the conditions that drive them, particularly in forests. If you want to learn more, check out my website at:

http://abstoler.wix.com/home

Julia graduated

Doug worked with us for one semester in 2016, assisting with an outdoor controlled-temperature mesocosm experiment.

Jon worked with the Raffel lab for one semester in 2013, when we hired him part-time to help set up up the lab. Jon's thesis work focuses on community- and ecosystem-level responses to phenolic compounds (i.e., leaf leachate) on aquatic ecosystems.

Ryan worked as a technician in the Raffel Lab. For his dissertation, he studied thermal acclimation and mass scaling affects in cutaneous and pulmonary respiratory performance in Xenopus laevis, a aquatic frog.