DHL graduate student Braden DeWeerd was recently awarded funding through the Howard McCarley Student Research Award through the Southwestern Association of Naturalists! His proposed research, titled “Examining Ranavirus Infection and the Influence of Habitat Characteristics in Frogs of Eastern New Mexico ,” involves examining RV prevalence and evaluating the influence of habitat characteristics that may increase viral infection loads and subsequently trigger mass mortality events. The results from this study support ongoing efforts to understand the threats to imperiled frogs along the Pecos River, such that pathogen information can be integrated into conservation and management frameworks.

Congratulations Braden!