Gui Becker
(Principal Investigator)
Contact Information
Department of Biology
516 Mueller Laboratory
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
guibecker(at)psu.edu
Education
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CORNELL UNIVERSITY (Ithaca, NY, USA) - PhD, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 2014.
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STATE UNIVERSITY OF CAMPINAS (Campinas, SP, Brazil) - MSc, Ecology, 2007
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UNIVERSITY OF VALE DO RIO DOS SINOS (Sao Leopoldo, RS, Brazil) - BS, Biology, 2025
Research Interests
My research examines how environmental change influences wildlife health through its effects on animal movement, host-associated microbiomes, and pathogen transmission. By combining spatial ecology, field/laboratory experiments, and molecular tools, my lab uncovers the ecological mechanisms that shape vertebrate disease dynamics and promote resilience in natural ecosystems.
Interests outside academia
Songwriting: check out my SciStrings project website and Spotify
Photography: Flickr landscape photo archive
*I also take cooking and snowboarding very seriously :-)
Current Lab Members
Shannon Buttimer
(Postdoctoral Researcher)
Contact Information
Department of Biology
514 Mueller Laboratory
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
smb8305(at)psu.edu
Education
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THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY (University Park, PA, USA) - PhD, Ecology, 2025
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – BERKELEY (Berkeley, CA, USA) - BS, Molecular Environmental Biology, 2019
Research Interests
My research interests lie at the intersection of climate change, disease ecology, and biodiversity conservation. I aim to understand how environmental changes influence ecological processes and disease dynamics across different scales. Central to my research is exploring the interactions between drought, the skin microbiome, and amphibian susceptibility to the waterborne fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Using Brazilian pumpkin toadlets (Brachycephalus spp.) from the Atlantic Forest as a model, I aim to elucidate the complex interactions between climate, host, and pathogen. Through field sampling, experiments, and microbiome analysis, my research seeks to uncover adaptive responses and feedback mechanisms that inform conservation strategies and enhance our understanding of ecological resilience amidst global climate change.
Selected Publications
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Buttimer SM, Medina D, Martins RA, Morais da Silva AG, Neely WJ, Haddad CFB, DiRenzo GV, Catenazzi A, Bell RC, Becker CG (2025) Experimental drought suppresses amphibian pathogen yet intensifies transmission and disrupts protective skin microbiome. Global Change Biology, 31: e70275.
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Buttimer S, Moura-Campos D, Greenspan SE, Neely WJ, Ferrante L, Toledo LF, et al. (2024). Skin microbiome disturbance linked to drought-associated amphibian disease. Ecology Letters, 27, e14372.
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Buttimer S, Hernández-Gómez O, Rosenblum EB. (2021). Every bacterium is everywhere, but the salamander selects: metacommunity structure of the cutaneous microbiomes of San Francisco Bay Area salamanders. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 97: fiab162.
Jack Boyette
(PhD Candidate, Ecology)
Contact Information
Department of Biology
514 Mueller Laboratory
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
jlb7997(at)psu.edu
Education
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BERRY COLLEGE (Rome, GA, USA) - BS, Biology & Pre-Veterinary Animal Science, 2020
Research Interests
I am an early career biologist and lifelong adventurer fascinated by the ecology and evolution of amphibians. As a PhD student in the Becker Lab, I aim to investigate mechanisms which equip amphibian populations to adapt to ecological changes such as disease emergence and habitat alteration. My past research interests include the evolution of frog vision and the impact of artificial selection on ruminant immune gene diversity.
Selected Publications
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Boyette JL, Bell RC, Fujita MK, Thomas KN, Streicher JW, Gower DJ, Schott RK. (2024). Diversity and molecular evolution of non-visual opsin genes across environmental, developmental, and morphological adaptations in frogs, Molecular Biology and Evolution, msae090.
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Peters S, Wilson J, Boyette JL. (2020). Differential expression of IGF1, IGFBP5, MSTN and MYH1 across different age classes in American Quarter Horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 94: 103226.
Laura Kauer-Schuck
(PhD Student, Ecology)
Contact Information
Department of Biology
514 Mueller Laboratory
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
lxk5406(at)psu.edu
Education
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THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY (University Park, PA, USA) - MS, Ecology, 2025
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UNIVERSIDADE DO VALE DO RIO DOS SINOS (São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil) - BS, Biology, 2022
Research Interests
I'm interested in the ecological dynamics of bacterial communities residing on amphibian skin, focusing on how these symbiotic organisms confer adaptive advantages to amphibians in an era marked by disease-driven population declines. My research combines laboratory and field experiments with molecular and microbiological techniques to investigate the resistance mechanisms within the unique bacteriome of a particular Brazilian frog species. Additionally, I examine how environmental factors influence these bacterial communities and their ability to provide protective benefits to their amphibian hosts.
Selected Publications
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Schuck LK, Neely WJ, Buttimer SM. et al. (2024). Effects of grassland controlled burning on symbiotic skin microbes in Neotropical amphibians. Scientific Reports, 14: 959.
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Schuck LK, Moser CF, Farina RK, dos Santos NLP, Tozetti AM. (2022). Self-made home: how and where does the anuran Rhinella dorbignyi build its retreat sites. Iheringia, Série Zoologia, 112, e2022021.
Karen Paniagua Torres
(Research Technologist)
Contact Information
Department of Biology
514 Mueller Laboratory
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
kap6269(at)psu.edu
Education
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THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY (University Park, PA, USA) - BS, Wildlife and Fisheries Science, 2025
Research Interests
I am a research technologist at Penn State and I am interested in population ecology and genomics of amphibians. My hope is to learn various skills to further my research experience and in the future help with the conservation of amphibians. My past research experiences include working with mitochondrial DNA with Cuban Tree Frogs and analyzing body condition in red-backed salamanders.
Selected Publications
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Brosnan EB, Paniagua Torres KA, Martin KR, Atkinson MS, Glorioso BM, Waddle H, Savage AE. (2024). Tracing invasion routes of Cuban treefrogs into Louisiana using mitochondrial DNA. In prep.
Kathryn Koo
(PhD Student)
Contact Information
Department of Biology
514 Mueller Laboratory
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
klk6302(at)psu.edu
Education
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SANTA BARBARA (Santa Barbara, CA USA) - BS, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 2023
Research Interests
I am interested in the relationship between biodiversity and disease and am investigating how biodiversity across multiple biological scales impacts disease risk in tropical amphibians. Using field-collected data, I am looking at how biodiversity, from larger scales of habitat complexity and community to smaller scales within the amphibian skin microbiome and pathogen lineage, interact to shape disease risk in amphibian populations. I am interested in uncovering how habitat complexity and plant community diversity affects the amphibian skin microbiome and the effects of this interaction on Bd infection prevalence and intensity. My research aims to understand the role of biodiversity at multiple biological scales to further scientific understanding of the relationships between biodiversity, disease, and stability.
Selected Publications
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Koo, K., Nordheim, C., Katz, T. Chen, R., Briggs. C., (in preparation) Effects of sample storage on detection of pathogenic Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis environmental DNA in soil.
Gracey Brouillard
(MS Student)
Contact Information
Department of Biology
514 Mueller Laboratory
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
gab5871(at)psu.edu
Education
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CORNELL UNIVERSITY (Ithaca, NY USA) - BS, Environment and Sustainability, 2024
Research Interests
Although my passion for research spans broad sects and systems, I am primarily interested in interspecies relationships - including the interactions of humans/wildlife and hosts/microbes, community ecology (from the microbial to macro level), and conservation-related questions. My current research investigates the potential of multiple bacteriome stability metrics to predict amphibian host endangerment and further understand the influence of skin bacteriomes on amphibian host survival or resilience. Using field-collected data from Brazil and Madagascar, I aim to measure potential differences in the stability and organization of amphibian skin bacteriomes for threatened vs non threatened frog species.
Selected Publications
Brouillard, G. A. & Vitousek, M. (2024). The Effect of Temperature and Corticosterone on Blowfly Presence and Development in Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Nests. Cornell eCommons, https://hdl.handle.net/1813/115377
Former Lab Members
Daniel Medina - former postdoc
Current Affiliation: Resident Lecturer at The School for Field Studies - Bocas del Toro & Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama
Wesley Neely - former PhD student
Current Affiliation: Postdoctoral Researcher in the Rodriguez Lab at Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA
Samantha Siomko - former MS student
Current Affiliation: PhD Student in the Wigley Lab at The University of Bristol, England
Sasha Greenspan - former postdoc
Current Affiliation: Supervisory Research Administrator at the Marcus Autism Center at Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Diego Moura-Campos - former MS student
Current Affiliation: PhD Student in the Head Lab at The Australian National University - Canberra, Australia
Renato Martins - former MS student
Current Affiliation: PhD Student at State University of São Paulo, Rio Claro, Brazil
Vanessa Marshall: former lab member
Current Affiliation: PhD Candidate in the Earley Lab at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
José Wagner Ribeiro Junior - former visiting postdoc
Current Affiliation: WildMon, Dale, TX, USA
Ananda Brito de Assis - former visiting postdoc
Current Affiliation: State University of Sao Paulo, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
Veronica Saenz - former postdoc
Current Affiliation: Laboratory Manager at Vasquez Lab at Penn State, University Park, PA, USA
Nereyda Falconi Lopez - former postdoc
Current Affiliation: Postdoctoral Scholar in the Carlo Lab at Penn State, University Park, PA, USA
Carolina Lambertini - Former Postdoc
Current Affiliation: Postdoctoral Scholar at State University of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Aparados da Serra National Park,
Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Photo © Gui Becker