March 15, 2019 I feel tremendously honored to have been selected as an ASU Outstanding Graduate by the School of Life Sciences. Congratulations to recipients from the other colleges and to everyone graduating this spring.  

​

March 15, 2019 I was solicited to write a popular science article "A thirst for knowledge: How arid-adapted snakes thrive with limited water" in the magazine Wildlife Australia about my research in AUS and the US on Children's pythons. 

​

March 14, 2019 Our article "Dehydration enhances innate immunity in a semi-aquatic snake from the wet-dry tropics" in the Journal of Experimental Zoology is now available online (co-authors: Keith Christian, Greg Brown, Rick Shine, and Dale DeNardo).

​

March 1, 2019 I have accepted a position as a postdoctoral researcher with the French National Centre for Scientific Research working with Dr. Olivier Lourdais. I am happy to report that our family has successfully relocated to western France and I have begun my research project examining hydro- and thermoregulation in multiple species of ectotherm.  

​

February 24, 2019 Our correspondence article "Conference report: The 14th congress of the International Society of Developmental and Comparative Immunology" in Developmental and Comparative immunology is now available online.

​

January 15, 2019 I am proud to announce that I successfully defended my dissertation "Water as a Physiological Currency: Hydration State Impacts Immune Function, Metabolic Substrates, and Reproductive Investment" and have met all the requirements to earn a Ph.D.  

​

January 3-7, 2019 I had two presentations at the 2019 meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology  in Tampa, FL: an oral presentation titled "A mechanistic approach to understanding the relationship between dehydration and enhanced immune function" and a poster titled "Dehydration during egg production alters egg composition and yolk immune function" (link on Figshare). 

​

December 9, 2018 Our article "Cane toads (Rhinella marina) rely on water access, not drought tolerance, to invade xeric Australian environments" in Oecologia is now available online (co-authors: Keith Christian, Greg Brown, Rick Shine, and Dale DeNardo).

​

November 10, 2018 I had two presentations at the southwestern regional meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in San Marcos, CA: an oral presentation titled "A mechanistic approach to understanding the relationship between dehydration and enhanced immune function" and a poster titled "Dehydration during egg production alters egg composition and yolk immune function" (link on Figshare). 

​

October 10, 2018 Our article "Dehydration during egg production alters egg composition and yolk immune function" in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A is now available online (co-authors: Benoit Heulin and Dale DeNardo).

​

October 5-6, 2018 I gave an oral presentation at the annual meeting of the Arizona Physiological Society titled "A mechanistic approach to understanding the relationship between dehydration and enhanced immune function."

​

April 10, 2018 It was a tremendous honor to receive the Faculty Women's Association Distinguished Graduate Student Award for my scholarship, research, and performance in leadership and service.

​

April 2, 2018 I am honored to be a recipient of the Arijit Guha Graduate Student Advocacy Award for my advocacy efforts on behalf of women in STEM, first-generation college students, and graduate and professional students at ASU.

​

March 9 - March 13, 2018 I traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with members of Arizona's congressional delegation and lobby on behalf of graduate & professional students at ASU. We discussed HEA reauthorization and keeping our campuses safe.

​

January 26, 2018 Our article "Thermal biology mediates responses of amphibians and reptiles to habitat modification" in Ecology Letters is now available online (co-authors: Justin Nowakowski, James Watling, Michelle Thompson, Alessandro Catenazzi, Steven Whitfield, David Kurz, Ángela Suárez-Mayorga, Andrés Aponte-Gutiérrez, Maureen Donnelly, Brian Todd).     

​

January 3-7, 2018 I had two presentations at the 2018 meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology  in San Francisco: an oral presentation titled "Muscles provide water reserves for reproduction when resources are limited" and a poster titled "Egg desiccation leads to dehydration and enhanced innate immunity in python embryos" (link on Figshare). 

​

December 1, 2017 I delivered an oral presentation titled "Muscles provide water reserves for reproduction in a capital breeder facing water deprivation" at the ASU School of Life Sciences ‘Brown Bag’ symposium.

​

November 27- 28, 2017 This week, I had meetings in the district offices for the entire Arizona delegation to lobby against provisions in the proposed tax reform that hurt graduate students. I will not stop advocating on behalf of our graduate and professional student community, and likewise, I urge you to stay vigilant and continue to voice your concerns.

​

November 20, 2017 Our article "Reproduction alters hydration state but does not impact the positive effects of dehydration on innate immune function in Children's pythons (Antaresia childreni)" in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology is a featured cover story on the November/December issue. Many thanks to Dr. Greg Brown for the photograph.

​

October 27, 2017 I was nominated  by the School of Life Sciences as a 2017 College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (CLAS) Student Leader. This is a tremendous honor. Congratulations to everyone who was nominated this year - stay engaged! 

​

October 21, 2017 I delivered an oral presentation titled "Muscle as an internal water depot for reproduction: dehydration increases protein catabolism in a capital breeder" at the southwestern regional meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Many thanks to the  ASU School of Life Sciences travel funding for allowing me to participate. You can find more information about there meeting here. 

​

October 18, 2017 Our article "Water availability and environmental temperature correlate with geographic variation in water balance in common lizards" in Oecologia is now available online (co-authors: Andréaz Dupoué, Alexis Rutschmann, Jean François Le Galliard, Donald B. Miles, Jean Clobert, Dale DeNardo, Sandrine Meylan). 

 

October 9, 2017 Our article "Reproduction alters hydration state but does not impact the positive effects of dehydration on innate immune function in Children's pythons (Antaresia childreni)" in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology is now available online (co-authors: Gopal Billy, Joseph Blattman, and Dale DeNardo). 

​

September 29 - October 3, 2017 I traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with members of Arizona's congressional delegation and lobby on behalf of graduate & professional students at ASU. We discussed Title IX, DACA, and higher ed. funding.

​

April 12, 2017 Our article "When less means more: dehydration improves innate immunity in rattlesnakes" in the Journal of Experimental Biology is now available online (co-author: Dale DeNardo).