2008 Grant Recipients

2008 CHS GRANT RECIPIENTS

The CHS Grants Committee has chosen the CHS grant recipients for 2008. The committee consisted of Michael

Dloogatch, Jason Hood, Deb Krohn, Linda Malawy, Amy Sullivan and Steve Sullivan. This year we received 19

applications, as usual exceeding the number of grants that could be awarded based on available funds. After a difficult

decision process, 12 grants were awarded, in varying amounts, as follows:

• Sarah Becker, Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University. “Habitat Use and Thermal Niche of Three

Panamanian Anuran Species with Varying Degrees of Susceptibility to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis,” $500.

• Jake A. Brashears, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University. “Facultative Thermogenesis in Pythons ---

How and Why Ectotherms Become Endotherms,” $480.

• Meagan Leigh Harless, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University.

“Effects of Road Deicing Chemicals on Larval Amphibians,” $250.

• Robert H. Hegna, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University. “A Study of Aposematism

in the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog (Oophaga pumilio): The Effect of Density, Spots, and Color on Predation with

Conservation Implications,” $400.

• Charles Knapp, Center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species, Zoological Society of San Diego.

“Enhancement of the Green Iguana Conservation Breeding Program at the Iguana Verde Foundation, Costa Rica,”

$500.

• Eric Liebgold, Department of Biology, University of Virginia. “The Effects of Social Environment on the Growth

and Behavioral Phenotype of Juveniles of a Terrestrial Salamander, Plethodon cinereus,” $300.

• Cy L. Mott, Department of Zoology, Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University.

“Prevalence and Ecology of Fungal Infections among Breeding Aggregations of Ambystomatid Salamanders in

Southern Illinois,” $400.

• Peter J. Muelleman, Truman State University. “Assessing Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Infection Levels in the

Amphibian Communities in Upland and Lowland Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems of Northern Calhoun County,

Illinois,” $475.

• Tami S. Ransom, Department of Biology, University of Virginia. “Are the Behavioral Responses of Red-backed

Salamanders to an Ecosystem Engineer Influenced by Their Evolutionary History?” $300.

• Michael Reichert, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri. “Character Convergence in Sympatry

of Aggressive Calls in Two Frog Species, Hyla chrysoscelis and Hyla versicolor,” $500.

• Tiffany Schriever, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto at Scarborough. “The

Role of Larval Amphibians in Temporary Pond Systems,” $500.

• Brooke L. Talley, Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University. “Surveying Illinois Amphibians for

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Infection,” $250.