May 2021

• Another challenging semester is over! Now to the fun part where we catch salamanders. Setting up our new long-term study plots across the region. Hope to get over 40 set up for this field season. 

March 2021

• Wood frogs are breeding so Anna is setting up her experiments to understand how populations vary in response to pond drying. Stay tuned as we get more populations for her work. 

October 2020

• With all the warm weather, our terrestrial salamander field season is extended. Stay tuned for results from Alan's work and our new stable isotope project. 

August 2020

• The lab welcomes 4 new MS students. Welcome to Anna, Hailey, Sara, and Elyssa!

March 2020

• Amidst the chaos of moving everything online, Tom Hastings successfully defends his thesis via Zoom. Congrats Tom!

• Tom Anderson accepts a position as an Asst. Professor at Southern Illinois University-Evansville! The lab will not be the same without him.

February 2020

• Multiple experiments are up and rolling with our undergraduate teams of researchers. Fingers crossed!

• Wood frogs are calling and the field season is off to an early start!

November 2019

• Fall Plethodon sampling begins 

October 2019

• Jake accepts a position with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He will be missed greatly!

• Fall Ambystoma breeding begins in MO

September 2019

• Welcome to 2 new graduate students, Liz Morgan and Alan Babineau

• The leaf litter experiment comes down while Davenport is back up in the Arctic for another round of EW and fish experiments. 

August 2019

• A new semester begins!

• We launched the leaf litter breakdown experiment so stay tuned for those results

• Kabryn, Susan, Tom A., Jake, and Davenport present at ESA in Louisville

July 2019

• Data collection is underway for all projects ranging from MO to NC to the Arctic

June 2019

• Field season is now underway up at our Arctic sites. Wood frog breeding is in full swing and another mesocosm exp't is launched.

• Our Boone mesocosms are still pumping out metamorphs so stay tuned for those results from David's project

• Stream salamander sampling is also continuing at our western NC sites.

May 2019

• Final preparations are being made for our field season in the Arctic which is good timing as the FLW sampling winds down. Another great year in the books!

• Our pond sampling at the high-elevation sites is cranking up. Lots and lots of newts!

• My 1st year at ASU comes to a close....now the local field season is upon us. 

April 2019

• Hastings' wins the best graduate poster at ASU's student research day. Congrats Tom!

• All of David's study animals are in the tanks!

• Another year of ASB is in the books. The lab had great representation with 5 posters and 1 talk.

• One our undergraduate researchers, Zack Vegso, has accepted an REU position at UCONN. Way to go Zack!

March 2019

• 1st round of larval sampling at FLW is completed. It was a long drive but well worth seeing all the amazing pond critters in the Ozarks. 

• David's mesocosm experiment is up and running at our new on-campus site. Stay tuned for updates on that project.

December 2018

• 2 papers submitted and my 1st semester at App is rapidly coming to close. 

• Jake has been busy tracking juveniles

• All fall mesocosm projects are up and running in Missouri. 

September 2018

• Reports of 1st ringed salamander eggs at FLW. Looks like the fall field season has arrived....no matter if we are ready or not. 

• Welcome to 2 new lab members, Jacob Burkhart and David Burton! Jake is the new postdoc on the FLW project and will be focusing on the terrestrial component of our phenology work. David is a new MS student that will investigating zooplankton and algal responses to salamander predation. His work will also focus on FLW ringed and marbled salamander populations. 

August 2018

• After 3 moving trucks full of stuff, we are finally at Appalachian State. Our final experiment was broken down and all of the students are returning from afar. It looks to be a great and productive fall!

June 2018

• Big lab news....we are moving to Appalachian State University this summer! We are looking to add another MS student to the team so be on the lookout for our advertisement.

• Field surveys at FLW are wrapping up just as the field season in the Subarctic kicks into high gear. 

April-May 2018

• Field surveys at FLW are in full swing and the field season has arrived. Countdown for the semester to be over!

March 2018

• The lab heads down to Myrtle Beach, SC for the annual ASB meeting. Eight presentations from the Davenport lab ranging from turtles to salamanders to carnivorous plants. Good times had by all.

• Amphibians are breeding in Missouri....must be the field season.

February 2018

• Tom Anderson joins the lab as a postdoc on the SERDP grant that he co-authored. Welcome Tom and his great expertise on pond community ecology.

January 2018

• Davenport gives a  seminar at Austin Peay State University. Cool to see all of the great work being done at my alma mater....Let's go Peay!

• We welcome 2 new lab members, Susan Cragg and Kayli Thomas. Both are masters students that will be working with salamanders. 

November 2017

• Davenport gives a guest seminar over at SIU-Carbondale. Great visit with Zoology folks and special thanks to Jason Brown for hosting!

October 2017

• Davenport gives a guest seminar down at Murray State. Great visit with the Whiteman lab!

• Kenzi Stemp defends her masters project on Ambystoma keystone effects. Congrats Kenzi!

• Our new SERDP funded experiments and field work is officially up and running with A. annulatum and A. opacum breeding

September 2017

• Our ad is officially out on Ecolog for a new masters student to focus on Ambystoma and their cascading effects on wetland food webs. Join us!

• Dani and others in the lab await cooler weather to squeeze in one more experiment this fall

• Dustin Garig successfully defends his masters work on Alligator Snappers and the effects of turtles on wetland food webs. Congrats!

August 2017

• Classes start on the solar eclipse...for some folks at least.

• Tom Hastings, a new masters students, joins the lab! 

• ​The spotted salamander-sunfish paper is finally out at Amphibia-Reptilia with SEMO student co-authors

July 2017

• Davenport presents some new bladderwort-salamander research at JMIH in Austin. Great to catch up with friends and on all the great science out there with herps!

• Turtle trapping is shut down for the summer. Now to the lab work...

June 2017

• Another successful Arctic field course in the books. Kenzi has stayed up north to maintain the latest experiment and help out with Earthwatch

May 2017

• Saidee Hyder joins the lab as a new graduate student on the Alligator Snapping turtle project. Welcome Saidee!

• New paper with undergrad, Alex Riley, on the interactions between bladderwort and bluegill is out in Journal of Animal Ecology

• New paper on the effects of climate change on subarctic wood frogs is out in Global Change Biology

• Alligator Snapping turtle trapping resumes in Tennessee.

April 2017

• Siren food web experiment begins!

• Stephanie successfully defends her thesis on wood frog spatial ecology in the Subarctic. Congrats...now to work on those final revisions

• Chris begins his spotted salamander predator cues experiment

• Siren trapping is in full swing at our local sites.

March 2017

• Peepers, leopard frogs and spotted salamanders are breeding in southeast Missouri. Time for field work to begin!

November 2016

• Data analysis is coming along for everyone as the semester winds down 

September 2016

• Dustin cranks up the fall turtle trapping in TN 

• The lab heads to the Missouri Herp and TN Herp meetings to present our subarctic and turtle work 

• School is back in session!

August 2016

• Davenport heads to the 2016 Plethodontid conference at Highlands 

• Dustin's turtle predation experiment begins

July 2016

• Davenport heads down to JMIH in New Orleans

• Back up to Churchill to help out with Earthwatch

• Three experiments are coming down..now to the data analysis

• Turtle trapping is shut down until the fall...now to the lab work

June 2016

• Kenzi gets her AZ experiment up and running

• Stephanie has all of her wood frogs for the field season

• More ASTs have been located in West TN

• Elizabeth has her exp't going now with toads

May 2016

• The 1st ever Arctic Ecology course from SEMO sets out to northern Manitoba

• We've caught our 1st Alligator Snapping turtles of the year in TN!

April 2016

• Stephanie gets awarded a $1,500 grant from the Explorer's Club for her research in Churchill on wood frog movement

• Stephanie presents her thesis work at the inaugural Central Ecology and Evolution conference in Norman, OK

• Dustin begins Alligator Snapping turtle surveys in west TN with Josh Ennen of TNACI and Rob Colvin of TWRA

• Kenzi gets her ambystoma food web exp't set up and running

March 2016

• Amphibians are breeding in SE Missouri!

January 2016

• The lab is awarded a 3 year grant in collaboration with the TN Aquarium Conservation Institute to assess the population status and movement ecology of Alligator Snapping Turtles throughout West TN

• The lab welcomes new member, Kenzi Stemp, joining as a new masters student. 

October 2015

• Alex breaks down his exciting experiment with Bladderwort. 

September 2015

• Dustin Garig joins the lab from Millsaps College as a master student. 

May 2015

• Stephanie gets good news from the AMNH with a $3,300 Theodore Roosevelt grant for her research in Churchill on wood frog movement