About
We're a motley crew that share a love for science, nature and having fun!
Jason L. Brown
Primary Investigator
As a youth, he explored the outdoors of rural South Dakota developing his love for amphibians and nature. He fostered these interests by majoring in biology at Moorhead State University Minnesota and then took the academic road, getting his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Biology from East Carolina University in 2009.
Since 2003, Jason spent over 33 months in the tropics studying and observing amphibians, traveling much of Central and South America and Madagascar. One of Jason's oldest research interests is on the behavioral ecology, phylogeography, and taxonomy of Neotropical poison frogs. His interests in poison frogs existed before his academic career, and continue to deepen with his growing knowledge of their seemingly endless phenotypic variation and complex mating, parental care and social behaviors. Today Jason studies a broad array of things, most of his research focuses on temporal and spatial variation in habitats and how they influence the generation and maintenance of biodiversity.
Likes: Traveling, hiking, canoeing, backpacking, camping, racquetball, folk and bluegrass music, genealogies, smoked and cured meats, cheese, beer, scotch, fossil hunting, woodworking, strategy board games, pinball, retro video games, football, terrariums, aquariums, container gardens
Sofía Granados-Martínez, MSc
Doctoral Student
Sofy is a doctoral student studying the biodiversity patterns of amphibians in Costa Rica (where she is from) and in Peru. Sofy completed her Licenciatura degree (similar to a master’s degree) in Zoology at the University of Costa Rica where she worked with Dr. Fernando Soley-Guarda and Dr. Jennifer Stynoski studying the space use patterns and visual acuity of the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio). In her spare time, Sofy loves to explore, whether it be the cloud forests of Costa Rica or walking around her neighborhood in Carbondale. She also loves good coffee, watching movies, and reading books.
Morgan Lybarger
Undergraduate Researcher
Animal Guru and lab Swiss Army Knife
Morgan is from Central Illinois, and has come to SIUC in hopes of earning a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology with a specification in Wildlife Biology. At this campus, Morgan hopes to gain more knowledge in her many interests such as, conservation, leadership, ornithology, and wildlife rehabilitation. In her free time, Morgan enjoys downhill longboarding, cooking and baking, art, hiking, and gardening!
BreAnn Geralds, MSc
Doctoral Student
NSF Biodiversity Fellow
BreAnn is broadly interested in research regarding dendrobatid life histories, including how behavior, genetic, and environmental factors lead to speciation events. She is an alumnus of SIU after attaining her undergraduate degree in zoology with a focus on herpetology and conservation. She then obtained her master’s degree from East Carolina University working with Dr. Kyle Summers identifying differentially expressed genes in the brains of begging Ranitomeya imitator and Ranitomeya variabilis tadpoles to pinpoint the mechanisms underlying the evolution of begging behavior and parent-offspring interactions. Her love of dendrobatids and her master’s lab brought her back to SIU to work with Dr. Jason Brown investigating speciation mechanisms in Ameerega poison frogs.
When not obsessing over frogs, BreAnn loves hiking or anything outdoors, crafting just about everything, playing DnD, reading, writing, pinning insects, watching football, and caring for her mini zoo of herps.
Jasmine Weber-Pierson, MSc
Doctoral Student
Jasmine is a doctoral student at SIU that is currently starting a project studying the driving factors of the changing distributions of three different species of geese in west-central and southern Illinois with Dr. Jason Brown and Dr. Michael Eichholz. She completed her master's degree in Sweden at Linnaeus University with advisors Dr. Mariëlle van Toor and Dr. Jonas Waldenström where she created a project in which she investigated how the use of the agricultural landscape and potential exposure to agricultural pollutants at a stopover location in Sweden affected the immune system health in mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). In her spare time, she spends most of her time hanging out with her two bunnies, Kiwi and Belle, or going for walks or hikes in nature. She also loves cooking and trying out new recipes.
Jacob Zimanek
Undergraduate Researcher
NSF Biodiversity Fellow
GIS Sherpa
Jacob is from the Quad Cities. He is a junior studying Zoology: Wildlife Conservation and Management at SIU. His academic interests include animal behavior, ecological biodiversity, conserving the natural world, and climate change. He also enjoys going on hikes, watching Youtube, hanging out and having movie nights with his friends, and trying as many new foods as possible.
Aleida Iriarte
Undergraduate Researcher
NSF Biodiversity Fellow
Phylogenetic Sommelier
Aleida comes from Chicago, though she was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. She is an undergraduate at SIUC studying zoology and biochemistry. Her academic interests include biodiversity, conservation, evolution, sustainability, mammalogy, herpetology, chemistry, and nearly anything that helps discover the secrets of the natural world. She works in Dr. Brown’s lab as an undergraduate assistant. Outside of school, her interests include hiking, hammocking, traveling, herping, and most outdoor activities.
