Dr. Alicia Mathis and biology graduate and undergraduate students traveled to Milwaukee to present at the national annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society (ABS). The meeting was held on Aug. 2-6 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Mathis presented research on salamander behavior alongside graduate students, Katy Gardner, Stephanie Morrison and lab staff member Ben Dalton.

From Dr. Brian Greene’s lab, graduate students Alex Meinders and Chelsea Martin presented poster presentations about snake behavior.

Undergraduate students Jami Baker and Sarah White also attended the annual conference.

The meeting was a chance to reconnect with MSU alumnus Dr. Aaron Sullivan, now an associate professor of biology at Houghton College in New York. The group enjoyed catching up and discussing their research.

Although the conference is over, there is more research to be done on animal behavior and Mathis’ lab is ready.

“My lab has numerous research projects in the works this year, including continuations of the research we presented at the conference,” Mathis said. “We’ll also be looking at how predation risk influences territorial aggression: Would you go out and fight to keep your territory if there was a tiger on the loose in your backyard? It should be fun.”

Presentations and researchers are listed below. An * symbol reflects who presented.

• “Do Oklahoma salamanders respond to aquatic predator scents and alarm cues after metamorphosis?” Mathis* and Johnson.
• “Response to conspecific alarm cues by larval Ambystoma” Gardner* and Mathis.
• “Effects of electrofishing on behavior of two age classes of endangered hellbenders.” Morrison*, Briggler and Mathis.
• “The effects of sex, species and territorial ownership on the behavior of two woodland salamanders.” Dalton*, Lynn and A. Mathis.
• “Conspecific scent trailing in juvenile cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus).” Martin* and Greene.
• “Behavioral responses of cottonmouths to conspecific cloacal gland secretions.” Meinders* and Greene.