Colin started as a grad student in the Hillis lab, but left unexpectedly, and was last seen as Spider House

I am a lab tech in the Cannatella lab, and have been working with Emily Moriarty-Lemmon and Chris Funk on their projects since September 2004. Emily has been working on the systematics and phylogeography of the trilling clade of the Pseudacris Chorus Frogs, and Chris is working on resolving the systematics of Physalaemus petersi.

Starting this fall of 2005, I will be a graduate student in the EEB program here at the University of Texas. I am interested in questions related to parallelism and convergence in regards to cave invasion in salamanders of the genus Eurycea. Central Texas Eurycea, in particular, have been of particular interest, as these perennibranchiate salamanders have invaded caves several times in several different species.

Since February, I have been working with the City of Austin's Salamander Conservation Group, which is responsible for research and protection of the Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea sosorum), the Jollyville Plateau Salamander (Eurycea tonkawae), and the Austin Blind Salamander (Eurycea waterlooensis).

As a graduate student in David Hillis' lab, I hope to explore some aspects of the genetic basis of cave adaptation in Eurycea using tools that are being developed in the burgeoning field of evolutionary developmental genetics (Evo-Devo).