Meredith Atwood

MASTERS CANDIDATE

EDUCATION

 

I am broadly interested in amphibian conservation, particularly for pool-breeding amphibians.  My current research focuses on how bottom-up processes in vernal pools influence the development of larval amphibians.  Bottom-up factors assess how the amount of resources influence the community (in contrast to top-down factors which assess the impact of predators on the community).  Vernal pools are greatly influenced by bottom-up processes and a pool’s resource base and overall productivity begins with its organic matter (e.g. detritus).  Most organic matter entering the system comes from surrounding terrestrial systems through leaf litter and can greatly affect the physical, chemical, and biological parameters in the pool.  Despite its importance, little is known regarding these bottom-up processes in vernal pools.

My research tries to get at how these bottom-up factors influence vernal pool food webs.  I am particularly interested in how different leaf litter inputs and soil types influence pools.  I use wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) as my model organism to assess how these bottom-up forces influence larval survivorship, growth, and development.

My findings have important implications for understanding vernal pool systems and amphibian ecology.  In today’s world where we have lost the majority of our natural wetlands (and subsequently, amphibian habitat), it is important to know what amphibians need to flourish.  My findings may help restoration and conservation efforts for vernal pool-breeding amphibians.

 

B.S. Biology, B.A. Env. Studies         2009               Denison University       

M.S. Conservation Biology                Exp. 2011      SUNY-ESF           

305 Illick Hall

Department of Environmental Forest Biology

SUNY– College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Syracuse, NY 13210

 

E-mail: maatwood@syr.edu

Office Phone: (315) 470-6754

CURRENT RESEARCH

PAST EXPERIENCE

American toad (Anaxyrus americanus), Denison University Biological Reserve, Granville, OH, 2008.

Green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea) in amplexus,

Bald Head Island, NC, 2009.

My undergraduate degrees from Denison University (Granville, OH) were in Biology and Environmental Studies, which provided me with a strong background in ecology as well as in the various environmental problems we face and different perspectives to solving them.  While at Denison, I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Rebecca Homan for 1.5  years researching amphibian demography and distribution at a vernal pool.  I spent many hours muddy and happy, studying spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum), wood frogs, and American toads (Anaxyrus americanus).  It was through this research that I became interested in amphibian ecology and conservation.

In summer 2007, I  interned with an environmental consulting firm, ENSR, which introduced me to wetland policies, wetland science, and threatened species conservation.  It was here where I realized that I could make a living by working outside and having fun in the woods and wetlands!

In summer 2009, I interned with a non-profit on Bald Head Island, NC as a sea turtle intern.  I performed nightly beach patrols for nesting sea turtles, PIT and flipper tagged nesting turtles, led educational programs, and also conducted amphibian call surveys for an independent research project.

Posing with a female loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) after measuring and tagging her while she nested on Bald Head Island, NC, 2009.

I am extremely grateful for the following funding sources:

· Edna Bailey Sussman Trust Award

· Society of Wetland Scientists Student Grant

· Air & Waste Management Association, Central New York

FUNDING SOURCES

Me with my field enclosures, summer 2010

An adorable wood frog metamorph!

Mucking around for larval amphibians near Granville, OH, 2008.