FSP students visit WSU

Family School Partnership high school students visit the Zoology Department and other parts of WSU campus to learn more about preparing for and getting into college and the kinds of careers that a college degree provides.

Venture Academy Herp Show, Spring Semester 2012

Weber State University zoology student Austin Earley teaching elementary school kids about snakes, lizards, and salamanders.

Most exciting herpetology lab of the year.

Click to see News report.

October 'Herping' in Southern Utah

New member of Evolutionary Biology editorial board for the Scientific World Journal

Our New paper on Amphibians and Reptiles in Morocco

Our new paper on litter-size in S. grammicus

Chasing Podarcis and their blood parasites in Northern Portugal, July, 2011

Collecting site near beach.

Collecting S. grammicus in Northern Mexico, June, 2011

Dr. Marshall spent a week in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, Mexico helping graduate student Beth Bastiaans (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Gen (undergraduate student UCSC) collecting live lizards in the field and bringing them back to the lab in Torreon. Above Gama (Professor at Universidad de Juarez del Estado de Durango), Beth, and Gen set up lizard chambers in preparation for mate selection and male aggression trial.

Field Season 2011 Begins

Herping in southwestern Utah with WSU undergrad Kyle Shaney and BYU postdoc Brian Barber.

NCUR 2012

Weber State University has been selected to host the 26th annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research in 2012. The three-day conference, which is expected to attract nearly 3,000 students and faculty, is the foremost undergraduate research conference in the United States.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrprjay1BdQ

Summer 2010 Diversion- Salt Lake Tribune Sunday Opinion Section

Parmakelis et al. 2010 PLoS ONE

Anopheles immune genes and amino acid sites evolving under the effect of positive selection

Abstract- It has long been the goal of vector biology to generate genetic knowledge that can be used to "manipulate" natural populations of vectors to eliminate or lessen disease burden. While long in coming, progress toward reaching this goal has been made. Aiming to increase our understanding regarding the interaction between Plasmodium and the Anopheles immune genes, we investigate the patterns of genetic diversity of four anti-Plasmodium genes in the Anopheles gambiae complex of species.

A Parmakelis, M Moustaka, N Poulakakis, C Louis, MA Slotman, JC Marshall, PH Awono-Ambene, C Antonio-Nkondjio, F Simard, A Caccone, and JR Powell (2010) PLoS ONE 5:e8885

Marshall et al. 2009 IJEE

In the academic job market, will you be competitive? A case study in ecology and evolutionary biology

Abstract- Over the last several decades, the percentage of permanent faculty positions at universities has declined significantly. This creates intense competiton for these positions. Data summarizing the general qualifications of newly hired first-time professors are valuable for students contemplating graduate school. Here we present data collected in a survey from 181 newly hired faculty members in the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology from around the world. We report the average number of publications, courses taught, years as postdoctoral fellows, and research grants received for successful job applicants. Our results indicate and extremely competitive environment for permanent academic jobs in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology.

JC Marshall, P Butars, T Callahan, JJ Dennehy, DJ Harris, B Lunt, M Mika, and R Shupe (2009) Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 55:381-392

New DNA Analysis Station

Dr. Jon Clark and I received a grant this year to build a DNA analysis station to add to the College of Science DNA laboratory. The funds were generously provided by the Dee Family Technology Grant. Above WSU undergraduate student Austin Earley edits DNA sequences at the new station.

Rameriz et al. 2009 HCB

Fat body and liver mass cycles in S. grammicus (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) from southern Hidalgo, Mexico

Abstract—We describe changes in liver and fat body mass of males and females of the viviparous lizard, Sceloporus grammicus from southeastern Hidalgo, México. The changes in the masses of the liver and fat bodies of males and females are usually asynchronous. Typically, reproductively active males and females deplete fat body reserves and experience increased liver mass. However, we observed maximum fat body and liver masses during spermatogenesis (July-August) and vitellogenesis (July-November). In females, the liver and fat body masses decreased while carrying developing embryos. This pattern demonstrates the ability of these lizards to bolster energy reserves during reproductive activity and the high energetic cost associated with embryo development. Also, this response pattern is similar to other populations of this species and to some other species of temperate lizards.

A RAMÍREZ-BAUTISTA,D HERNÁNDEZ-RAMOS, AR MARTINEZ, AND JC MARSHALL

Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, A.P. 1-69 Plaza Juárez, C.P. 42001, Pachuca, Hidalgo, México, Department of Zoology, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah 84408, USA

Herpetological Conservation and Biology 4(2):164-170

Traveling Field Station

New addition to the Marshall lab.

Summer Field Work 2009

Dr. Marshall was invited to give a talk at the research campus of the Universidade do Porto in May a few days after classes ended.  After the talk he spent nearly two weeks in the field collecting lizards, snakes, turtles, and spiders, across Portugal, Spain, and mostly Morocco.  The research team was headed by Dr. D. James Harris and included people from Spain, Portugal, England, and Holland.

Perez-Losada et al. MPE 2009

The Aporrectodea caliginosa species complex includes the most abundant earthworms in grasslands and agricultural ecosystems of the Paleartic region. Historically this complex consisted of the following taxa: A. caliginosa s.s. Savigny, 1826, A. trapezoides Dugés (1828), A. tuberculata (Eisen, 1874), and A. nocturna Evans (1946). These four taxa are morphologically very similar and difficult to differentiate because of their morphological variability. Consequently, their taxonomic status and their phylogenetic relationships have been a matter of discussion for more than a century. To study these questions, we sequenced the COII (686 bp), 12S (362 bp), 16S (1200 bp), ND1 (917 bp), and tRNAs_{Asn-Asp-Val-Leu-Ala-Ser-Leu} (402 bp) mitochondrial and 28S (809 bp) nuclear gene regions for 85 European earthworms from 27 different localities belonging to the A. caliginosa species complex and four outgroup taxa. DNA sequences were analyzed using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches of phylogenetic inference. The resulting trees were combined with morphological, ecological, and genomic evidence to test species boundaries (i.e., integrative approach). Our molecular analyses showed that A. caliginosa s.s. and A. tuberculata form a sister clade to A. trapezoides, A. longa, and A. nocturna, which indicates that A. longa is part of the A. caliginosa species complex. We confirm the species status of all these taxa and identify two unrecognized Aporrectodea species in Corsica (France). Moreover our analyses also showed the presence of highly divergent lineages within A. caliginosa, A. trapezoides, and A. longa, suggesting the existence of cryptic diversity within these taxa.

Perez-Losada, M., R. Maigualida, J.C. Marshall, and J. Dominguez (2009) Phylogenetic assessment of the earthworm Aporrectodea caliginosa species complex (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52: 293–302

Evolution Meetings, Moscow, Idaho 2009

Weber State undergraduate student Paul Buttars presents the poster:

In the Academic Job Market, Will You Be Competitive? A Case Study in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Jonathon C. Marshall¹*, Paul Buttars¹, Thomas Callahan², John J. Dennehy³, D. James Harris⁴, Bryce Lunt², and Robert Shupe²

¹Dept. of Zoology, Weber State University, Ogden, UT, USA; ²Dept. of Biology Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT, USA; ³Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Flushing, NY, USA; ⁴Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Vairão, Portugal.