Latest News
2024
Elliot successfully defends his MS thesis on Crwfish Frog spatial ecology! Congrats Elliot!
Elizabeth awarded the Gann Scholarship for Women in Herpetology and Best Conservation Presentation at KHS annual meeting!
Paper - Box Turtle Translocation! - Wildlife Research - Nice Work Elizabeth!
Elizabeth is spearheading a petition to make the Razorback Musk Turtle the AR State Reptile. Sign the Petition!
Article on our Solar-Wildlife Research from our project partner Today's Power Inc.
Mitchell Pruitt successfully defends his PhD on ecology of Saw-Whet Owls in Arkansas.
Paper - Maine Snakes! - Northeast Nat - what a fun lab-wide collaboration on long-term data!
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KUAF coverage of our new DOE-funded Solar-Wildlife Project
Launching a New Project on wildlife communities in solar arrays funded by the US DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office!
Python Synthesis is out! Monumental Work by Jackie Guzy and many co-authors!
KUAF coverage of prairie snake research
Paper - Prairie Herp Occupancy in NW AR - Landscape Ecology - Royal et al.
Crawfish Frog research featured on TWS news!
Paper - Crawfish Frog Occupancy - Ichthyology & Herpetology - Kross and Willson - Cover Photo!
Paper - Riparian Herp Communities in Managed Forests - Eco Apps! Great paper Jackie!
Paper - Road-based Density Estimation - Wildlife Research. Cover Photo!
Research in our lab at the University of Arkansas focuses on understanding factors that drive population and community dynamics of reptiles and amphibians including inter- and intraspecific interactions, environmental variation, and anthropogenic impacts such as land-use change, pollution, and invasive species. Our work uses a combination of descriptive, experimental, and theoretical approaches to integrate responses from the level of the individual organism to the landscape. We are also interested in basic aspects of reptiles and amphibian ecology that set them apart from other vertebrates.
Current research areas in the Willson Lab include:
1) Evaluating population and landscape-scale effects of anthropogenic stressors (pollution, land-use change, intensive forestry, invasive species) on amphibians and reptiles.
2) Understanding the ecology, impacts, and management of Burmese pythons and other invasive snakes.
3) Assessing biotic and abiotic drivers of aquatic snake population and community dynamics within wetland ecosystems.
4) Development of novel field and analytical methods to understand reptile and amphibian distribution and abundance.
Please contact Dr. Willson if you are interested in research or graduate student opportunities.