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Chelsea Baker, M.S. student. Major advisor: Matthew Lovern. Behavior, Interspecific interactions, adaptive radiation, ecomorphs.
B.S. 2012, Oklahoma State University. Email: chelsea.e.baker@okstate.edu |
Specific Interests
I am interested in the interactions between native species and invasive species and specifically how these interactions affect the fitness of both species. I use the genus Anolis for my model organisms and use one native species (Anolis carolinensis) and two invasive species (Anolis sagrei, Anolis porcatus) for my experiments. Invasive species often exhibit multiple characteristics that make the species a threat to native populations and my experiments are designed to observe differences in behavior, immunology, morphology, and resource usage of all three species. I hope to identify significant differences between all three species that will (1) provide insight into how these invasive anoles are contributing to the decline of native anoles, and (2) provide information to researchers and conservation programs in areas that contain endemic anole populations.