Global Change, Wildlife Disease, and Conservation Genomics
About me
I aim to creatively address conservation issues resulting from the impacts of global change with a combination of basic and applied research. Lately this has involved making use of museum collections to understand what happened after historical outbreaks of the disease chytridiomycosis in frogs of the western US, to help us predict which populations of these frogs are most sensitive to future disease outbreaks.
More broadly, my research to date is centered around amphibians and reptiles that are susceptible to genetic diversity loss and novel stressors including disease, habitat fragmentation, and climate change. While I spend most of my time on research and mentoring, I also am involved in community engagement work (sometimes referred to as "outreach") including informal science education and advocacy for minoritized people and communities in STEM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Math).
I am currently a NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow based at UT Austin and am working in Kelly Zamudio's lab.
NEWS
August 2024 - More news on Rana boylii - our paper has been selected as AmphibiaWeb's News of the Week! This is such an honor for our team, and much deserved attention for this special frog.
March 2024 - It's so exciting to see Rana boylii in the spotlight! Our R Soc Open Sci paper has been featured in The Current at UC Santa Barbara, in the UT Austin College of Natural Sciences News, and in The Daily Texan.
February 2024 - Check out our opinion piece on the potential evidence for coevolution between super-generalist Bd and its diverse amphibian hosts in Current Opinion in Microbiology
January 2024 - New paper out in Royal Society Open Science - Chytrid infections exhibit historical spread and contemporary seasonality in a declining stream-breeding frog. This was a gargantuan collaborative effort. It was incredible to be able to connect with so many managers, consultants, and academics who have spent years researching this special little frog.
February 2023 - Huge congratulations to my undergraduate mentees Maia Rogers and Ryan Arnott, who have both been awarded Undergraduate Research Fellowships for their independent research projects!!
November 2022 - Check out my interview on the MicroTalk Podcast about amphibian chytridiomycosis with host Dr. Karl Klose - we had such a fun chat!
August 2022 - Museomics pilot studies have been successful so far, which is very exciting. Reach out to me if you're interested in learning about the Ancient DNA techniques I have learned and adapted from my collaborators at the Smithsonian Center for Conservation Genomics.
January 2022 - Wooo! Check out our newest paper in Immunogenetics, based on some of my dissertation work on MHC and Bd infections.
December 2021 - We moved to Austin, TX! I'll miss Cornell but am excited to join UT Austin's Integrative Bio department as a "new" postdoc.
October 2021 - It was my honor to be interviewed on the Frog of the Week Podcast about the differences between frogs and toads, and ways that all of us can help make life better for toads and other amphibians. Thanks to Kim and the FOTW team! Episode here
July 2021 - After working with the PARC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Team for nearly three years, I have been elected co-chair of the Task Team. I look forward to this opportunity to learn, grow, and help support progress in the field of herpetology.
June 2021 - My second dissertation chapter on microbiomes in a coastal frog has been published in Ecology and Evolution - check it out here.
March 2020 - I was awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology! I am so grateful for this added time to collaborate with the mentors I have been working with during my Smith Fellowship.
August 2019 - Just call me Dr. Belasen! I am so grateful to my advisor Tim James, my PhD committee (Meg Duffy, Johannes Foufopoulos, and Lacey Knowles), and all the other people who helped me get here. Off to Cornell now for the next chapter - my postdoc in the Zamudio Lab!
April 2019 - I set my defense date - I'll be defending my PhD on 7/30/19!
Also just skyped a Maryland high school science class at an all-girl school, what an empowering experience for me and hopefully for them! I can't recommend Skype a Scientist enough.
March 2019 - I'm so excited that the awesome Laura Patterson (state herpetologist of California, CDFW) has joined my Smith mentorship team. Laura will serve as my field mentor and will help ensure that I am conducting research with practical value for conservation of California frogs.
February 2019 - So much #SciComm!
Just gave my very first invited departmental seminar - at EMU in Ypsilanti, MI. Thanks to Katy Greenwald for inviting me and to the Greenwald lab for showing me a great time in Ypsi!
This month I also video chatted with three classrooms across the US (in Oklahoma, New York, and Virginia) through Skype a Scientist. The students ranged from 6th-8th grade and it was so much fun to chat with them. One of the teachers later told me one of her students (a 6th grader) decided she wanted to become a scientific researcher after our call. !!!
January 2019 - I am beyond thrilled to announce that I've been awarded a Smith Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellowship! I'll be starting my postdoctoral research in collaboration with Kelly Zamudio (Cornell University) and Rob Fleischer (Smithsonian National Zoo Center for Conservation Genomics) in Fall 2019.
December 2018 - My first dissertation chapter has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution! This chapter focuses on immunogenetics and infections by a diversity of potential parasites in island and coastal frogs in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Check it out here!
More broadly, my research to date is centered around amphibians and reptiles that are susceptible to genetic diversity loss and novel stressors including disease, habitat fragmentation, and climate change. While I spend most of my time on research and mentoring, I also am involved in community engagement work (sometimes referred to as "outreach") including informal science education and advocacy for minoritized people and communities in STEM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Math).
I am currently a NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow based at UT Austin and am working in Kelly Zamudio's lab.
NEWS
August 2024 - More news on Rana boylii - our paper has been selected as AmphibiaWeb's News of the Week! This is such an honor for our team, and much deserved attention for this special frog.
March 2024 - It's so exciting to see Rana boylii in the spotlight! Our R Soc Open Sci paper has been featured in The Current at UC Santa Barbara, in the UT Austin College of Natural Sciences News, and in The Daily Texan.
February 2024 - Check out our opinion piece on the potential evidence for coevolution between super-generalist Bd and its diverse amphibian hosts in Current Opinion in Microbiology
January 2024 - New paper out in Royal Society Open Science - Chytrid infections exhibit historical spread and contemporary seasonality in a declining stream-breeding frog. This was a gargantuan collaborative effort. It was incredible to be able to connect with so many managers, consultants, and academics who have spent years researching this special little frog.
February 2023 - Huge congratulations to my undergraduate mentees Maia Rogers and Ryan Arnott, who have both been awarded Undergraduate Research Fellowships for their independent research projects!!
November 2022 - Check out my interview on the MicroTalk Podcast about amphibian chytridiomycosis with host Dr. Karl Klose - we had such a fun chat!
August 2022 - Museomics pilot studies have been successful so far, which is very exciting. Reach out to me if you're interested in learning about the Ancient DNA techniques I have learned and adapted from my collaborators at the Smithsonian Center for Conservation Genomics.
January 2022 - Wooo! Check out our newest paper in Immunogenetics, based on some of my dissertation work on MHC and Bd infections.
December 2021 - We moved to Austin, TX! I'll miss Cornell but am excited to join UT Austin's Integrative Bio department as a "new" postdoc.
October 2021 - It was my honor to be interviewed on the Frog of the Week Podcast about the differences between frogs and toads, and ways that all of us can help make life better for toads and other amphibians. Thanks to Kim and the FOTW team! Episode here
July 2021 - After working with the PARC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Team for nearly three years, I have been elected co-chair of the Task Team. I look forward to this opportunity to learn, grow, and help support progress in the field of herpetology.
June 2021 - My second dissertation chapter on microbiomes in a coastal frog has been published in Ecology and Evolution - check it out here.
March 2020 - I was awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology! I am so grateful for this added time to collaborate with the mentors I have been working with during my Smith Fellowship.
August 2019 - Just call me Dr. Belasen! I am so grateful to my advisor Tim James, my PhD committee (Meg Duffy, Johannes Foufopoulos, and Lacey Knowles), and all the other people who helped me get here. Off to Cornell now for the next chapter - my postdoc in the Zamudio Lab!
April 2019 - I set my defense date - I'll be defending my PhD on 7/30/19!
Also just skyped a Maryland high school science class at an all-girl school, what an empowering experience for me and hopefully for them! I can't recommend Skype a Scientist enough.
March 2019 - I'm so excited that the awesome Laura Patterson (state herpetologist of California, CDFW) has joined my Smith mentorship team. Laura will serve as my field mentor and will help ensure that I am conducting research with practical value for conservation of California frogs.
February 2019 - So much #SciComm!
Just gave my very first invited departmental seminar - at EMU in Ypsilanti, MI. Thanks to Katy Greenwald for inviting me and to the Greenwald lab for showing me a great time in Ypsi!
This month I also video chatted with three classrooms across the US (in Oklahoma, New York, and Virginia) through Skype a Scientist. The students ranged from 6th-8th grade and it was so much fun to chat with them. One of the teachers later told me one of her students (a 6th grader) decided she wanted to become a scientific researcher after our call. !!!
January 2019 - I am beyond thrilled to announce that I've been awarded a Smith Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellowship! I'll be starting my postdoctoral research in collaboration with Kelly Zamudio (Cornell University) and Rob Fleischer (Smithsonian National Zoo Center for Conservation Genomics) in Fall 2019.
December 2018 - My first dissertation chapter has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution! This chapter focuses on immunogenetics and infections by a diversity of potential parasites in island and coastal frogs in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Check it out here!