Researchers in the field

A list of researchers active in the field of amphibian decline or conservation. This section contains background information on the people and their previous or current research.

• Ramesh K Aggarwal, Scientist, Group Leader, W 409-DNA Marker Lab. Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India.
  Anuran biodiversity/species richness/endemism in India; conservation studies.
• Ross Alford, James Cook University, Australia
  Population, community, and evolutionary ecology of frogs and their larvae.
• Paolo Andreani, Universit` della Tuscia - Viterbo
  Environmental pollution, Rana esculenta complex, frogs as bioindicators, multilocus electrophoresis, freshwater biology
• Peter Beerli, Florida State University
  Current work deals with population genetics, gene flow, phylogeny, and evolution on the level of closely related species and populations: Eastern Mediterranean waterfrog populations
• Sandor Benyhe, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
  Biochemistry, opioid receptors, animal physiology, frog skin peptides, amphibian decline.
• David Bickford, National University of Singapore
  Evolutionary ecology and conservation of amphibians and reptiles; exploration and description of Southeast Asian biodiversity.
• Andrew Blaustein, Professor at Oregon State University, U.S.A.
  Current work deals with behavior, population dynamics and evolutionary biology. I am very interested in questions concerning biodiversity and conservation.
• Nicola Bressi, Trieste Natural History Museum, Italy
  Ecology, population dynamic, stomach flushing, PIT-tags, conservation, exotic species.
• Carlos Davidson, California State University, Sacramento
  Carlos Davidson studies the spatial patterns of amphibian declines, mainly in California, and the use of spatial patterns to evaluate hypotheses for the cause of declines.
• William E. Duellman, Curator Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, University of Kansas, U.S.A.
  Systematics, ecology, and biogeography of amphibians and reptiles with emphasis on systematics of anurans, evolution of reproductive specializations in anurans, biogeography of the neotropical herpetofauna, and community ecology of tropical herpetofaunas.
• Sushil K. Dutta
  Amphibian taxonomy, conservation, and decline.
• Sandra Essbauer, Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich
  Sandra Essbauer researches amphibian viruses, e.g. iridoviruses and herpesviruses. Iridoviruses are the main research interest at the moment. If you have any questions concerning worldwide amphibian decline, investigation of diseases of amphibians or e.g. chytridiomycosis cases in Europe, don't hesitate to contact:
• Gary M. Fellers
  Gary Fellers is currently conducting research on the distribution and population status of declining amphibians throughout the non-desert parts of California, as well as research on potential causes for the observed declines (e.g. the role of contaminants, disease, and non-native predators).
• Jinzhong Fu, Assistant Professor, University of Guelph, Canada
  Research interests: Phylogenetics, genetic diversity and conservation biology of Asian amphibians.
• Pierre Fidenci, President/Conservation biologist, Endangered Species International
  Research interest: foothill yellow-legged frog ecology including breeding biology. Other works include inventory, habitat association, and call characteristics of anurans of the Indomalaya Ecozone especially the Philippines.
• Dick Franz Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville.
  Ecology of amphibians and reptiles in Florida and the Caribbean.
• Rebekah Gibble
  Conducting research regarding the potential impact of pesticides on amphibian immune defenses, particularly the bioactivity of peptides secreted from dermal granular glands.
• Sanil George, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
  Molecular ecology of endemic lower vertebrates of Western Ghats, antimicrobial peptides from frog skin secretions, DNA barcoding of amphibians of Western Ghats.
• Varad Giri, Herpetology Section, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS)
  Caecilian taxonomy, distribution pattern, population dynamics and conservation issues in the northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra.
• David Green, Curator of Vertebrates, Redpath Museum, McGill University, Canada
  Evolutionary genetics and conservation biology of amphibians.
• Eli Greenbaum, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Villanova University
  Conservation of amphibians in El Salvador and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Kerry L. Griffis-Kyle, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University. Current work examines how terrestrial-wetland linkages and the spatial arrangement of wetlands influence amphibians.
• KV Gururaja, Centre For Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
  Habitat relationship to anuran distribution and diversity, Western Ghats and Western Himalayan region of India.
• James Hanken Curator in Herpetology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, and Professor of Biology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, and Chair, International Board of Directors, Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force (DAPTF)
  Research interests: evolutionary biology--morphology, development, and systematics.
• Jean-Marc Hero Senior Lecturer in Wildlife Biology, School of Environmental & Applied Sciences Griffith University
  Research interests: Conservation biology of amphibians and reptiles.
• David L. Jameson, Professor Emeritus of Biology, University of Houston, U.S.A.
  Research Interests: : Systematic studies of the evolution of mtDNA in cold blooded vertebrates; hybridization in natural populations; conservation of the flora and fauna of the Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta.
• Muhammad Zaheer Khan, Assistant Professor of Zoology - Wildlife, University of Karachi, Karachi.
  Research Interests: Studies of effects of pesticides on amphibian and lizards on enzymatic level, morphological studies, ecology, zoogeography, wetland conservation, wildlife conservation.
• Roland A. Knapp, Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory, University of California, U.S.A.
  My current research focuses on the effects of non-native fish on alpine ecosystems, including amphibians, with a focus on understanding the consequences of amphibian declines to ecosystem function and on the restoration of amphibian populations.
• S.V. Krishnamurthy, Kuvempu University
  Population biology, effects of habitat fragmentation, ecotoxicology.
• Sergius L. Kuzmin, Director of the IUCN/DAPTF and the Chairman of the DAPTF/CIS Regional Group, Institute of Ecology & Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky
  Research interests: ecology, distribution and conservation of amphibians.
• Michael Lau
  Research interests: ecology and conservation of amphibians and reptiles in South China including Hong Kong
• David Lesbarreres, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada
  Research interests: ecological and evolutionary genetics, conservation biology of amphibians.
• Karen Lips, Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University
  Research interests center around patterns of amphibian diversity, population demography, and the evolution of life-histories (especially reproductive modes) of Neotropical anurans. Most of her recent field work involves studies of amphibian population declines.
• Dr. Stefan Lötters, Zoology Department of the Mainz University, Germany.
  Systematics, zoogeography, and conservation biology of terrestrial vertebrates in Bolivia and Africa.
• Malcolm L. McCallum, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences,Louisiana State University at Shreveport
  Research interests: Conservation Biology, Behavioral Ecology, Natural History, Life History, Histology, Ecotoxicology, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Economics, GIS/GPS, Inventory and Monitoring, Immunology, Reproduction.
• Clare Morrison, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Applied Sciences University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji.
• German Orizaola, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain
  Interactions between amphibians and fishes. Amphibian declines.
• Jérôme Pellet, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
  Phd. thesis on the decline of Hyla arborea.
• David Pilliod, post-doctoral research ecologist with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station.
  Amphibian decline issues related to introduced fishes, disease, land use, and fire.
• Edoardo Razzetti
  Amphibian decline, conservation, distribution, ecology, polymely (extra limbs).
• Dr. Mark-Oliver Rödel Zoology Department of the Mainz University, Germany.
  Systematics, ecology and behavior of West African amphibians.
• Anthony Russell, University of Calgary, Canada
  Biology and ecology of the amphibians and reptiles of Alberta.
• Dirk S. Schmeller, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, Department of Nature Conservation, Leipzig, Germany.
  reproduction in Rana temporaria and water frogs, conservation, monitoring, invasion, gene exchange.
• Benedikt Schmidt, University of Zurich, Switzerland
  Demography and dynamics of amphibian populations.
• Rainer Schulte
  Herpetofauna of North East Peru. Specialist in poison dart frog biogeography, rescue, and sustainable management.
• Don Sparling, Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory Southern Illinois University.
  Conducting research on the effects of contaminants on amphibian physiology and populations.
• Ray Semlitsch, University of Missouri, Columbia.
  Current research emphasizes the ecological effects of land use and forest management practices on stream and pond-breeding amphibians.
• Max Sparreboom
  The evolution of reproductive behaviour in amphibians; comparative ethology of the Old World salamanders; use of behavioural characters for a phylogeny of salamanders.
• Linda Trueb, Curator, Division of Herpetology, Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas, U.S.A.
  Anuran systematics and morphology; phylogeny of basal anurans based on developmental evidence, and analysis of fossil and Recent taxa.
• Karthikeyan Vasudevan, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India.
  Anuran biodiversity/species richness/endemism in India; conservation studies.
• Paul Veenvliet
  mapping, ecology of ephemeral ponds in Europe; amphibians in Central and Eastern Europe; contact person for RAVON - Dutch association of Field Herpetologists and Ichthyologists; illustrator specialising in black and white illustrations of amphibians and fish; lecturer in Wildlife management.
• Michael Veith, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  The evolution of amphibian life-history traits and reproduction biology as well as the problem of the presumed world-wide amphibian decline are his major research topics.
• Miguel Vences, Zoological Institute, Technical University of Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
  Current research interests: amphibians and reptiles of Madagascar: adaptive radiation and patterns of diversity; vertebrates of Gondwana--palaeobiogeographical reconstructions by molecular and morphological phylogenies; and montane amphibians: modifications of ecology and morphology in an extreme environment.
• Christoph Vorburger, University of Zürich Irchel, Switzerland
  LE-system, hybridogenesis, mutation accumulation, conservation.
• Vance Vredenburg, San Francisco State University
  Research Interests: amphibian declines, population biology, behavioral ecology and conservation biology.
• David Wake, Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.
  Research activity: Evolutionary biology; Functional, evolutionary and neuro-morphology of feeding, evolutionary genetics, development, geographical ecology and systematics of salamanders; conservation biology and biodiversity policy issues.
• Marvalee Wake, Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.
  Current research emphasizes morphology, development, and reproductive biology in vertebrates with the goal of understanding evolutionary patterns and processes.
• USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI):
  • Michael Adams, Northwest Regional Biological Coordinator
  • Stephen Corn, Rocky Mountains Regional Biological Coordinator.
  • Ken Dodd, Southeast Regional Biological Coordinator, USGS Florida Integrated Science Center.
  • Steve Johnson USGS Florida Integrated Science Center.
  • Robin Jung,Northeast Regional Biological Coordinator.
  • Erin Muths Rocky Mountains Regional Biological Coordinator.
  • Walter Sadinski, North Central Regional Biological Coordinator.
  • Susan Walls, South Central Regional Biological Coordinator.
  • Wendy Wente, USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center in Corvallis, OR.

This list is not complete. If you know of researchers who you think are missing, please contact us.

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