Introducing Martin!

What better way to start our lab notes than with an introduction to the research assistant your donations will support? This is Martin, geared up with telemetry equipment to track fence lizards at the field site in our little corner of Sumter National Forest.

 

A little about Martin: He is originally from Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina (for all you non-Wadmalawians, that’s on the coast near Charleston). Out of high school, he served 3 years in the US Army. Now, he is a senior biology major at Clemson University working hard to get hands-on research experience before venturing out again into the world.

Martin has a passion for the outdoors and has a knack for the type of ecological research he’s been involved in with our lab at Clemson. He recently spent a couple of semesters working with another member of our lab, Eric Riddell, studying some of the physiological mechanisms that enable certain Appalachian salamander species to regulate water loss in varying environments. Now, he’s working with me on this lizard nesting project, and I am glad to have him!

After he earns his degree, Martin aspires to continue the biology-driven work he loves as he moves on in his career. He wants to find a job with a state or federal agency involved in environmental work that focuses on forestry, wildlife, natural resources, etc.

And if supporting a bright, driven, hard-working aspiring young scientist doesn’t encourage you to back our project, take a look at the adorable face below. That is Cricket, Martin’s dog and a great assistant to the assistant researcher! Cricket loves science too, and Martin says he needs me to pay him so he can feed her. (*note: Cricket is a very happy dog, and will definitely be fed, petted, and kept very happy whether or not you donate)

 

Thank you for visiting our project page and reading our first lab note. Stay tuned for more! Soon to come are lab notes with some facts about the Eastern fence lizards we are tracking, other animals living out here in the national forest, recent news and research concerning human-driven climate change, and research from some of our colleagues at other institutions who are investigating organismal responses to climate change in other interesting ways.