Brittany S. Barker

Brittany S. Barker

Ph.D. Student

Department of Biology, University of New Mexico

E-mail: barkerbr@unm.edu Phone: (505) 205-4251; FAX: (505) 277-0304

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

Phylogeography and landscape genetics of terrestrial vertebrates

Conservation biology and tropical biology, especially of insular systems

Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to address questions related to species distributions and population genetics

Current Position

Ph.D. student, Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, USA. Co-advised by Profs. Joe Cook and Bob Waide

NSF GK-12 Fellow in 7^th grade Life Sciences at Belen Middle School, Belen, New Mexico.

Past Positions

Research Assistant, Robert B. Waide, University of New Mexico

Laboratory Technician, Thomas B. Smith, University of California, Los Angeles

Wildlife Biologist, Swaim Biological Consulting, Livermore, California

Laboratory Technician and Field Assistant, Stevan J. Arnold, Oregon State University, Corvallis

Links

Cook Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab, UNM, USA

UNM Department of Biology

LTER Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico

UNM GK12 Website

Puerto Rico GAP Analysis Project

Museum of Southwestern Biology, UNM, USA

Current Research

I am investigating the historical biogeography and landscape genetics of two Eleutherodactylus frog species in Puerto Rico with distinct habitat associations, the Antillean Coquí (E. antillensis) and the Mountain Coquí (E. portoricensis). Amphibians are important components in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, especially in the tropics where amphibian species richness and abundance are high. Unfortunately, their populations are declining and going extinct at an alarming rate in the tropics. I hope to provide new perspectives on dispersal in tropical regions, most of which are experiencing rapid land-cover transformations with unknown consequences on population connectivity.