![]() Jared Bilak, Ph.D. Student
Jared is a PhD student funded by the Shedd's Daniel P. Haerther Center for Conservation and Research. He is studying the natural history of common mudpuppies (Necturus maculosus), large aquatic salamanders native to the Great Lakes region. Bilak is expanding on the work completed by Alicia Beattie, a former Warne lab member. He is examining seasonal movements, assessing population and home range sizes, and determining what causes mudpuppies to be most active in the coldest months of the year. He completed his M.S. in Environmental Biology at Clarion University of Pennsylvania under the advisement of Dr. Kurt Regester. His Master’s research assessed the prevalence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Ranavirus among eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus a. alleganiensis) populations in four Western Pennsylvania streams. |
![]() Adrian Macedo, Ph.D. Student
Adrian grew up in the mountains of northern California, and at an early age became fascinated with herpetofauna. He completed a BS in wildlife at Humboldt State University in 2016. During his undergraduate studies, he worked for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife conducitng research on fish and herpetofauna in the Klamath mountains. This was were he conducted his Masters thesis on the life history variation of the Coastal Tailed Frog across an elevational gradient also at HSU. His interests are broad and he considers himself a naturalist, and is interested in both flora/fauna and driving factors of natural phenomena. He is now pursuing a PhD at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, to study the implications of changing water elevations on the herpetofaunal community of the Cache River State Natural Area. This natural area harbors remnants of the northern most Bald Cypress/Tupelo swamps in north America, a diverse ecosystem supports species including the Common Snapping Turtle (pictured here) and the state protected Bird-voiced Tree Frog. https://www.inaturalist.org/people/amacedo https://www.instagram.com/wanderingnaturalist/ |

Jake Hutton, Ph.D. Student
Jake received his M.S. while in the Steve Price Herpetology Lab at the University of Kentucky where he examined how mountaintop removal mining affected stream salamander abundance, occupancy, and diet composition. For part of his PhD, Jake is monitoring the influence of seasonal water regimes on reptile and amphibian breeding phenology, distribution, abundance, and community structure in the Buttonland Swamp of the Lower Cache River Valley in Southern Illinois. In his free time, Jake enjoys cooking, photography, painting, and feeding his praying mantis.
Jake received his M.S. while in the Steve Price Herpetology Lab at the University of Kentucky where he examined how mountaintop removal mining affected stream salamander abundance, occupancy, and diet composition. For part of his PhD, Jake is monitoring the influence of seasonal water regimes on reptile and amphibian breeding phenology, distribution, abundance, and community structure in the Buttonland Swamp of the Lower Cache River Valley in Southern Illinois. In his free time, Jake enjoys cooking, photography, painting, and feeding his praying mantis.

Robin Warne, PI
Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences, Zoology Program & Biology Program, Southern Illinois University
Biological Sciences Program Coordinator
Director for the Middle Mississippi River Wetland Field Station (MMRWFS) & Center for Ecology
Research: I'm a physiological ecologist who enjoys wrangling everything from frogs and lizards to birds and mammals. My research focus is on linking the interacting ecological factors and organismal systems that determine homeostasis, developmental plasticity, and disease processes. In amphibians, I use experimental approaches to understand how gut microbiomes interact with neuroendocrine systems to regulate development, physiological performance, and ranavirus disease dynamics. I also explore the evolutionary ecology of life history trade-offs in lizards, amphibians, and insects. Furthermore, I seek to link homeostatic physiology and behavior influence rodent and lizard ecological communities in desert grasslands.
Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences, Zoology Program & Biology Program, Southern Illinois University
Biological Sciences Program Coordinator
Director for the Middle Mississippi River Wetland Field Station (MMRWFS) & Center for Ecology
Research: I'm a physiological ecologist who enjoys wrangling everything from frogs and lizards to birds and mammals. My research focus is on linking the interacting ecological factors and organismal systems that determine homeostasis, developmental plasticity, and disease processes. In amphibians, I use experimental approaches to understand how gut microbiomes interact with neuroendocrine systems to regulate development, physiological performance, and ranavirus disease dynamics. I also explore the evolutionary ecology of life history trade-offs in lizards, amphibians, and insects. Furthermore, I seek to link homeostatic physiology and behavior influence rodent and lizard ecological communities in desert grasslands.
Past Lab Members
Savhannah Haslett
Savhannah has been working as an undergraduate researcher in our lab since the start of her studies at SIUC. She is a Saluki Research Rookie (2012), Saluki Scholars Research Opportunity (2012-13) awardee, and a REACH scholar (2014). She has or is working on stress in migrating Saw-whet owls, stress effects on stoichiometry of frogs, and the physiological mechanisms of ranavirus infiltration in tadpoles. |
Sandra Ehnert
Sandra has been conducting her undergraduate research in our lab for the past 2 years. Her focus and passion is informal STEM learning, which she had the great opportunity to develop further as an intern at the St Louis Zoo. |