Graduate students

Current Students (Research Advisor/Co-Advisor)

  • Sara Crayton

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: Ph.D.
    Projected Graduation Year: 2026
    Dissertation: Effects of forest fragmentation for oil and gas development on wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) abundances, adult survival rates, and movement patterns.

  • Lacy Rucker

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: Ph.D.
    Projected Graduation Year: 2026
    Dissertation: Impacts of climate change on growth, survival, and competition of the Cheat Mountain salamander (Plethodon nettingi).

  • Jami Baker

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Projected Graduation Year: 2026
    Thesis: Assessing the influence of biochar applications in forested systems on salamanders.

Current Students (Research Committee Member)

  • Emma Wilson

    University: North Carolina State University
    Department: Forestry and Environmental Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Projected Graduation Year: 2025
    Thesis: Interspecific competition and geospatial analysis for the at-risk spotted turtle.

Past Students (Research Advisor/Co-Advisor)

  • Ally Beard

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2024
    Thesis: Informing standardized wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) population monitoring: Influences of sampling approach and turtle behavior on model estimation. Link

  • Jena Staggs

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2023
    Thesis: Abundance-habitat relationships and aquatic-terrestrial habitat selection patterns for wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) in the Upper Midwest. Link

  • Joel Mota

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2022
    Thesis: Assessment of the geographic distribution and tools to assist with conservation of spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata) in West Virginia. Link

  • Lenza Paul

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2021
    Thesis: Terrestrial salamander and ant community responses to imidacloprid application in Central Appalachian eastern hemlock forests. Link

  • Sara Crayton

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2019
    Thesis: Stream salamander and benthic macroinvertebrate community responses to imidacloprid exposure. Link

  • Carl Jacobsen

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2019
    Thesis: Influence of climate change and prescribed fire on habitat suitability and abundance of the high-elevation endemic Cow Knob salamander (Plethodon punctatus). Link

  • Alissa Gulette

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2018
    Thesis: Habitat suitability of restored wetlands and an investigation of sampling bias for freshwater turtles in West Virginia. Link

Past Students (Research Committee Member)

  • Alex Benecke

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2025
    Thesis: Exploring long-term patterns: Black bass tournament fishery and population trends in West Virginia’s navigable rivers. Link

  • Zane Mikesell

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc. (non-thesis)
    Graduation Year: 2023
    Project: Predicted summer distribution of tricolored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) in the Monongahela National Forest prior to the introduction of white-nose syndrome

  • Darien Becker

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2021
    Thesis: Ecology of freshwater turtles and other wetland wildlife in a north-central West Virginia watershed. Link

  • Braley Burke

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Plant and Soil Sciences
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2021
    Thesis: Determining the effects of imidacloprid on non-target soil organisms in hemlock stands. Link

  • Eric Margenau

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: Ph.D.
    Graduation Year: 2020
    Thesis: Avian and salamander response to young forest management in West Virginia. Link

  • Maria Berkeland

    University: University of Minnesota-Duluth
    Department: Biology
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2020
    Thesis: Nest predation, population modelling, and sensitivity analyses of a wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) population in northeastern Minnesota

  • Caitlin Wilson

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: M.Sc.
    Graduation Year: 2020
    Thesis: Perceived effects of bush burning on agricultural and wildlife resources in Ghana. Link

  • Gretchen Nareff

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: Ph.D.
    Graduation Year: 2019
    Thesis: Cerulean warbler and associated species response to silvicultural prescriptions in the Central Appalachian region. Link

  • Laura Farwell

    University: West Virginia University
    Department: Forestry and Natural Resources
    Degree: Ph.D.
    Graduation Year: 2018
    Thesis: Songbird response to forest disturbance due to unconventional shale gas development in the Marcellus-Utica region: a multi-scale analysis. Link