We study a range of questions about adaptation to wind and thermal environments in the western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) at low and high elevation field sites in the Great Basin Desert of northern Nevada. This is an individual that is part of our long-term mark-recapture study, and you can see the colorful paint marks on its side that we use to identify individuals from a distance.

One of our 3D-printed operative temperature models for our studies of western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) thermal ecology. This model is deployed at a field site near Pyramid Lake in northern Nevada.

As former PhD student Dan Nicholson (above) can attest, the bad weather we sometimes encounter during our fieldwork can make one lose their mind. 

Our 2019 field team in Panama. We got a lot done!

We found a sloth!

Grad students Dan Nicholson (left) and Albert Chung (right) collect data on one of our experimental islands in Panama.

Grad student Lauren Neel deploys a temperature logger on one of our experimental islands in The Bahamas.

Grad student Chrissy Miller desperately tries to find shade on one of our experimental islands in The Bahamas.

My collaborator Christian Cox (Florida International University) enjoys the view from Pipeline Road, in Panama.

Taking a break for lunch while catching lizards in Panama. Albert was tired.

When I go to The Bahamas, I bring a few bags.

Our research team breaking for lunch along Pipeline Road in Panama.

A rainbow forms over the Panama Canal after a storm.

Research assistant Kristen Lemaster measures metabolic rates of brown anoles in The Bahamas.

Interns Claire Williams, Sean Alexander, and Maria Gallegos make clay model lizards for a predator abundance study in Panama.

At the edge of an island in the Panama Canal, former project grad student Dan Nicholson (left) takes a siesta as interns Edite Folfas and Bri Casement (right) figure out how they are going to wake Dan up and remind him that he has a dissertation to finish.

Our 2018 field team in Panama. We attempted to do the classic prom-staircase photo...judge for yourself whether that was a good decision or not...

A student entertained themselves by modifying a terrible photo they took of me in the field. Why did I post this? Good question.

Three of our experimental islands in the Panama Canal. We have released hundreds of uniquely marked lizards across these islands (and several others). The islands differ in their thermal and structural environments, exposing lizards to rapid environmental change. Each generation, we track genetic and phenotypic change in a whole suite of physiological, morphological, and behavioral traits. This system, as well as our work in The Bahamas, is providing insight into the evolutionary mechanisms involved in adaptation to rapid environmental change.

One of our experimental islands in The Bahamas, where we have transplanted nearly 700 lizards across islands that vary in their thermal conditions and habitat structure. We are testing hypotheses about the evolution of thermoregulatory behavior.

The endemic Anolis bicaorum from the island of Utila, Honduras.

Undergraduate researchers Lauren Horncastle (Aberdeen University; left) and Rachel Precious (University of Massachusetts - Amherst; right) try their best to noose a blue-headed anole (Anolis allisoni) on the island of Cayo Menor, Honduras.

Things tend to go terribly wrong during field work...especially when it's in remote locations. Top right: former project grad student Dan Nicholson arrives at the boat on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, only to realize that something is not quite right. Left: project co-PI Owen McMillan removes a giant tree branch that fell right through the window of our field truck in Panama. Bottom right: Grad students Guillermo Garcia-Costoya and Noa Ratia (plus an undergrad assistant) dig a stuck field vehicle out of the snow during an early spring trip up to their high elevation field site in northern Nevada.

A storm rolls in on the island of Eleuthera, The Bahamas.

A lemur anole (Anolis lemurinus) from the island of Cayo Menor, Honduras.

A wicked awesome beetle from Cayo Mayor, Honduras.

Anolis bicaorum from the island of Utila, Honduras.

Our 2018 research team in Panama prepares tupperware for the day's catch of lizards.

Sunset over the Island School, Cape Eleuthera, The Bahamas.

Blue-headed anoles mating on Cayo Menor, Honduras.

Trying to catch a lizard in The Bahamas. They frequently outsmart me.

An 'operative temperature model' deployed in The Bahamas.

My collaborators Orsolya Molnar and Katie Duryea catching lizards in The Bahamas.

Undergraduate researcher Ryan Huynh (Princeton University) collecting data in the rain on Utila, Honduras.

Christian Cox (Florida International University) performs a surgery on a brown anole in The Bahamas.

A. bicaorum habitat on Utila, Honduras.

Grad student Lauren Neel stands proudly next to her thermal preference arenas in Panama.

Typical brown anole habitat in The Bahamas.

Gotcha! Adding another data point in Honduras.

Friends and colleagues at the Iguana Station on Utila, Honduras.

A dwarf boa we found on an offshore cay in The Bahamas.

Lagoon in the center of Duck Island, 26 km off of Great Exuma, The Bahamas.

Katie Duryea taking a break from catching lizards in The Bahamas.

Our custom made field temperature chamber that we use to measure lizard thermal performance.

In 2012, we transplanted a population of brown anoles to this warm, thermally variable site and measured their survival. We found that those individuals which ran fastest at the warmest temperatures and across the broadest range of temperatures were most likely to survive.

In 2013, in The Bahamas, we studied how lizards were adapting to offshore islands that differ in their thermal environments. This photo was taken on Coakely Island, an exceptionally hot cay that sits about 20 km off of the main island of Great Exuma. Lizards on this island are adapted to these very warm conditions. In the foreground sits our boat captain and guide, "Bonefish Stevie."

Anolis allisoni on Cayo Menor, Honduras.

Anolis roatanensis from Roatan, Honduras.

Tropical wet forest on the island of Roatan, Honduras---perfect habitat for the endemic Anolis roatanensis.

Teaching high school students how to collect data in the field on the island of Dominica. High school students are active participants in our research there. In fact, they collect 90% of our field data!

As its name suggests, the Dominican anole is endemic to the small island of Dominica in the Lesser Antilles. This is an incredible lizard---it has been able to adapt to nearly all of the island's environments, from cool, wet cloud forests to the hot, open areas along the coast. We are studying the physiology and behavior of this species to understand how it has been able to adapt to so many habitats. We are also studying its interactions with an invasive species, the Puerto Rican crested anole.

High elevation cloud forest on the island of Dominica. The Dominican anole can be found at high densities in these forests, despite daytime temperatures never getting much above 20 C.

Measuring the sprint speed of an anole LIKE A BOSS.