Prior Research

Zigzag Salamander Spatial Capture-Recapture

I conducted this work under the mentorship of Dr. Steven Price at the University of Kentucky for my undergraduate thesis project. We used a coverboard array to perform a mark-recapture study of zigzag salamander (Plethodon dorsalis) populations in Central Kentucky.

We utilized visual implant elastomer (VIE) tags to mark unique individuals, and performed 10 coverboard surveys over the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 field season.

By integrating the spatial data of their capture location within the coverboard grid with the mark-recapture information, we can generate models of home range usage down to the individual level and calculate the local population density.

This ongoing study will also provide a valuable source of life history information for a species that is severely understudied. While I no longer work on this project, my former roommate and field assistant, Alex Stewart, has taken over the project.

Habitat Preference of Peromyscus Mice

Kentucky's Bluegrass Region is home to two members of the Peromyscus mouse genus, the White-Footed Deermouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and the North American Deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus).

In the 2019 Fall semester, I helped conduct a live trapping survey of these species with Dr. James Krupa at the University of Kentucky's North Farm. We conducted several thousand trap nights across a variety of crop types to identify consistent patterns of habitat preference and potential niche partitioning between these two sympatric species.

We were able to determine that within agricultural systems, P. maniculatus prefers open soil habitats while P. leucopus prefers dense plant growth and ample cover. We found evidence that P. maniculatus is more specialized than P. leucopus. Our study was also one of the first to examine hemp as a potential habitat for these animals.