Betsie B. Rothermel
Assistant Professor/PI

Ph.D. - University of Missouri (2003)
M.S. - Pennsylvania State University (1994)

Research Areas

Aquatic ecology, vertebrate biology (especially amphibians), effects of habitat fragmentation, diseases, and pollutants on aquatic communities and fauna

Current Projects

Land-use Effects on Amphibian Populations (LEAP)
LEAP is a NSF-funded, collaborative study involving researchers in Maine, Missouri, and South Carolina.  The goal of LEAP is to understand how population dynamics of aquatic-breeding amphibians are affected by land-use practices adjacent to wetlands.

Chytrid Infection in Salamanders
With funding from the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force, I am investigating the susceptibility of North American plethodontid salamanders to infection by the pathogenic chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.  Victoria Vazquez (University of Georgia) is collaborating on this project.