Philosophy on Community

Our lab is committed to fostering an inclusive environment for all in science, especially for people from historically excluded groups. Equity and inclusion interact to form major barriers that exclude groups of people from science. Over my career, I have learned about these barriers by regularly attending student-organized discussions, protests, and organizing workshops. I have learned that barriers to equity often originate from a lack of diversity and inclusion across the academic hierarchy. Through this process, I learned how important it is to develop a deep appreciation for listening and become a better advocate for all members of the community. I believe that the future of science depends upon having a diverse faculty that share the same experiences and backgrounds as the student body.

Lab Members

Eric Riddell, Principal Investigator (riddell@unc.edu)

My name is Eric, and I am an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My lab studies how organisms function in their environment by running experiments on animals and integrating physiological and behavioral information in simulation-based models. We are also interested in understanding the mechanisms underlying complex phenotypes across the hierarchy of biological organization. I love what I do, and I also love spending time with my family, friends, and fishing.

Braulio Assis, Postdoc

I am an evolutionary ecologist who studies how animal populations respond and adapt to a changing world. To address this question, I have explored various study organisms including fish, orb-weaving spiders, and lizards. In the Riddell Lab I work with lungless salamanders to understand how they respond to environmental change. In my free time I enjoy Brazilian music, the bass guitar, cooking, and swimming.

Ellen Keaveny, Postdoc

Coming soon!

Issi Burger, PhD Candidate

I joined the Ecophysiology Lab after completing my Masters in the Conservation Physiology Lab at Mississippi State University, focusing on amphibian reproductive physiology. While at Iowa State, I will be modeling species distribution of salamanders while also aiming to better understand their evolutionary and physiological ecology. When I’m not in the lab or in the field, I can be found reading, exploring the outdoors, or spending time with my partner and three pups.

Tamara Tyner, PhD Student

My name is Tamara and I am joining the Ecophysiology Lab after studying and working as a Forensic Anthropologist for the past few years. Before my anthropology days, I studied organismal biology and stable isotopes in aquatic food webs at the University of Kansas. I'm very excited to return to bio and explore the physiology of bumble bees! Outside of researching, I enjoy cooking, gardening, and any sort of adventure I can jump into with friends and family.

Savannah Weaver, PhD Student

I am pursuing my PhD in the Ecophysiology Lab after spending my Master’s investigating the hydration and evaporative water loss of lizards in the Physiology Ecology of Reptiles Lab at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. While at UNC Chapel Hill, I will be focusing on hydric trade-offs for anurans, their acclimation capacity, and how that will relate to their extinction or resilience to climate change. In addition to the mind-blowing physiology of reptiles and amphibians, I love the great outdoors, my mischievous kitties, and good food.

Joining the lab

As a member of the lab, you will have opportunities to gain experience in environmental physiology, functional genomics, and individual-based modeling. Research in the lab generally focuses on amphibians, birds, and small mammals, but we are question-based scientists and open to any system that helps us answer fundamental questions in ecology and evolution using physiological approaches.

We are committed to maintaining a supportive and inclusive environment in the Riddell Lab, and we strongly encourage anyone with the same commitments to apply to the program. We acknowledge that the academic community requires fundamental changes in our culture to become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. Our goal, as a lab and community, is to focus on the education and action required to be anti-racist through reflection on our biases and support of policies that translate into an anti-racist culture.

What will you learn?

My goal is to provide graduate students and postdocs with the skills they need to be competitive in any job market. Students will learn to code in a variety of languages (Python, R, bash) with a specific emphasis on learning to build individual-based models. We also use functional genomics to uncover the genetic mechanisms associated with physiological responses to the environment and flow-through respirometry to measure physiological traits, like metabolism and water loss rates, of whole organisms. All of these skills will directly benefit anyone interested in pursuing a career in science in the academic, private, or public sector.

We have a variety of exciting projects for graduate students and postdocs to pursue. These include physiological responses of birds and amphibians to global change, the ecology and evolution of tissue regeneration in salamanders, and conservation physiology of rare birds.

What is my advising philosophy?

Every lab member should leave with the ability to think as an independent scientist. I want to ensure that students and postdocs have the hard skills and theoretical framework to ask and answer fundamental questions in physiology, ecology, and evolution. I would describe my advising philosophy as having high accountability and high tolerance. I will provide clear expectations, while also understanding that mistakes and flexibility are critical for growth as an independent scientist. Healthy, consistent, and professional communication is a central pillar of the lab culture.

If you are interested...

We are not actively recruiting for graduate students or postdocs at the moment. But I always encourage folks to reach out to discuss opportunities, especially for funding through NSF. If you would like to apply to a PhD position, please send several documents that will help me understand your background and experience. Please inquire to riddell@unc.edu with (1) a cover letter that includes your name, research interests/statement of purpose, research experience, relevant background information (personality, motivation, undergraduate capstone project, etc.), GPA, and GRE test scores (GRE not required); (2) CV or resume; (3) unofficial transcripts; (4) any relevant publications. Please include contact information for three references in your e-mail to Dr. Eric Riddell. Be sure to indicate the specific taxa or question you would like to work on that relates to the research we do in the Ecophysiology Lab. Feel free to attach a sample of your writing.

We anticipate many opportunities in the near future, so it's never too early start communication. If any prospective students are interested in developing a proposal for the Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation or Postdoctoral Fellowship, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Eric Riddell (riddell@unc.edu) to inquire about how we can help.