Matt Troia, Assistant Professor
I am a quantitative ecologist with research interests in the diversity and distributions of freshwater fishes. I am a Wisconsin native, and have pursued education and research opportunities in Texas, Kansas, southern Appalachia, and the Desert Southwest. In August of 2019, I returned to Texas to begin a faculty position in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Check out my CV for details about my professional journey.
Elizabeth Rosas, MS Student
Elizabeth joined the team as a MS student in Fall 2020. Elizabeth is using lab-based physiology experiments to characterize temperature- and mass-dependence of consumption and respiration of Mexican tetras (Astyanax mexicanus). The goal of this research is to understand the northern range limit of this species—the only of its family native to the United States—and forecast how climate change may shift this limit northward.
Mary Finucane, MS Student
Mary joined the team as a MS student in Fall 2020. Her thesis research seeks to characterize habitat associations and population structure of Guadalupe bass (Micropterus treculii) and largemouth bass (M. salmoides) in the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River. The goal of this research is to inform management of this unique urban population of Guadalupe bass, which was established in 2015 following habitat restoration of Mission Reach.
Amanda Martinez, MS Student
Amanda joined the team as a MS student in Fall 2020. Amanda is using lab-based experiments to characterize behavioral responses of red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) to artificial light at night. The goal of this research is to understand how this aspect of urbanization affects animal behavior and, by extension, the ecological consequences of altered behavior by strong ecosystem interactors like crayfish.
Nick Loveland, MS Student
Nick will be joining the team as a MS student in January 2022. His thesis research will use lab-based physiology experiments to characterize thermal sensitivity of spring-associated fishes and field-based monitoring of stream temperature regimes to characterize thermal exposure. Integrating sensitivity and exposure data provides a comprehensive view of spatially-explicit and species-specific vulnerability to warming, which will inform conservation actions to mitigate climate change, land use change, and groundwater management.
Garrett Tucker, MS Student
Garrett will be joining the team as a MS student in January 2022. His thesis research will use lab-based physiology experiments to characterize thermal sensitivity of spring-associated fishes and field-based monitoring of stream temperature regimes to characterize thermal exposure. Integrating sensitivity and exposure data provides a comprehensive view of spatially-explicit and species-specific vulnerability to warming, which will inform conservation actions to mitigate climate change, land use change, and groundwater management.
