Principal Investigator(s): the Vredenburg Lab and Swei Lab have a shared space at San Francisco State University
Dr. Vance T. Vredenburg
Professor & Chair Department of Biology, San Francisco State University
Research Associate, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley
Fellow, California Academy of Sciences
Co-founder: AmphibiaWeb
Fulbright Scholar Spain & Morocco
Vance Vredenburg is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology at San Francisco State University, Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, and Research Associate at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at University of California Berkeley. He grew up in Mexico, received his bachelor's degree from the University of California Santa Barbara, and his Ph.D. from University of California Berkeley. His Ph.D. research showed it is possible to reverse the decline of a threatened frog in the wild (Vredenburg 2004). This conservation approach has been implemented in montane areas globally. His current research focuses on the impacts of an emerging infectious disease (chytridiomycosis) and climate change on amphibians and the role of the amphibian skin microbiome in health and disease.
Vredenburg: Curriculum Vitae (short version CV) ; (long version CV)
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9682-1190 ; Google Scholar: Vredenburg; Loop (Vredenburg)
Graduate Students
Rinnah Clark The influence of urbanization on the skin microbiome and fungal disease in the California slender salamander, Batrachoseps attenuatus.
Yareli Carolina Baraja Ramos Investigating redwood forests as refugia from disease and climate change for terrestrial salamanders
Tiffany May Movement patterns of the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus).
Kira Miller Pacific chorus frogs (Pseudacris regilla) as reservoirs for disease: investigating the roles of skin microbiota and sympatric hosts on amphibian disease dynamics in the Sierra Nevada
Conor Harrington Effects of the American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) invasion on Sierra Nevada mountains aquatic species
Chelsea Connor Estimating the herpetofaunal colonization of the Lesser Antilles using phylogenetic tools.
Bria Boose
Bria received her bachelor's degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from University of California, Santa Cruz. She has previously worked on acclimation potential in California giant salamanders as well as looking at parasite interactions in local amphibian communities. She is broadly interested in amphibian conservation especially as it relates to climate change. For her thesis Bria is looking at road pressure on California newts as well as disease dynamics within the newt community at Point Reyes National Seashore.
Contact: bboose@sfsu.edu
Past Students:
alessandra moyer
Alessandra Moyer studies the role of zooplankton communities on amphibian disease dynamics in high mountain lakes. Her study takes place in the Pyrenees Mountains on the border between France and Spain and is a collaboration with the P3 Project. Previously, she worked on marine trophic webs at Point Blue Conservation Science in Petaluma, CA. She received her BA in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley in 2015. Her honors thesis focused on the growth rate of post-fire fungi.
Max Taus Herpetofaunal Community Composition and Disease Dynamics in California Oak Woodlands.
Guest PhD student: Amanda Polhman PhD candidate Stanford University
kurt lutz
Kurt was an undergraduate at SF State University. He is interested in studying amphibian conservation and is currently focused on studying the effects of dams on amphibian populations. In particular, he is studying how dam construction can lead to invasion of non-native species (of amphibians and amphibiian predators) and to isolation of remaining populations of native amphibians.
Rachel Townsend
Rachel received her undergraduate degrees in Environmental Science and Spanish from the University of Iowa. She currently works as a biologist with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and studies both aquatic and wildlife species. She is co-advised by Tom Parker and for her masters thesis she utilizes wildlife cameras to research trophic level interactions and community structure among mammalian communities in parklands of the Bay Area.
Undergraduate students
2024 Michel Stephen Bigler, Marley Rose Crabbe, Valentine Arne Wright
2019-2021: Sabbatical (Fulbright Scholar Spain and Morocco) & COVID pandemic: no undergraduates
2017-2018: Monica Chee, Alma Barrios, Rene Gonzalez, Tai-Wei Chen, Diana Ramirez, Stephanie Seng
2016-2017: Sarah Contreras, Sofia Kakaizada, Kelly Hyde, Michael Gibson, Stephanie Huynh, Nathaniel Estrada, Hasan Sulaeman, Monica Chee, Alma Barrios, Rene Gonzalez, Tai-Wei Chen, David Barratt
2015-2016: Jodie Esaki, Stephenie Huynh, Amanda Huynh, Joelle Dugay, Kelly Hyde, Hasan Sulaeman, Nathaniel Estrada, etc.
2014-2015: Helen Butler, Kirsten Inuman Liaz , Laurence Cyril Henson, Jodie Esaki, Jessica Feist, Zarina Sheikh, Dana Alazzeh, Samantha Lee, Wesley Sparagon, Karen Evans, Molli Bauke, Niquo Ceberio, Stephenie Huynh
2013-2014: Shruti Ajay, Bo Heinz, Linette Rasmussen, Jason Helvey, Mark Russell, Nina Hang, Laurence Cyril Henson, Kirsten Inuman Liaz, Niquo Ceberio, Corinna Inmann, Ivet Lolham, Mackenzie Beaschler, Margarita Montenegro, Michelle Davila
2012-2013: Lauren Gillespie, Lilia Torres, Cory Singer, Dominique Sevi, Mark Russell, Lauren Price, Christy Fox, Erica Ely, Nicole Solano, Mackenzie Beaschler, Robert Tom, Jason Anders, Kevin Gundred, Gina Geiselman, Alex Harencar, Laurence Cyril Henson, Lisa Gunter, Nina Hang, Amanda Carbajal, Bo Heinz, Corinna Inmann, Hanh Kim Pham, Hannah Louise Durbin, Ivet Lolham, Jina Kim, Jourdan McPhetridge, Karl Alicando, Pearl Pui Yi Tam, Shruti Ajay
2011-2012: Cory Singer, Matthew West, Mark Russell, Christy Fox, Lauren Gillespie, Rachel Perez, Rebecca Belloso, Marina De Leon, Lilia Torres
2010-2011: Cory Singer, Matthew West, Brennan Helwig, Eric Ng, Nadia Yuen, Farishta Safi, Wendi Solis, Noel Graham, Betsabel Chicana Romero
2009-2010: Christine Rogers, Melo-Jean Encinas, Kacy Hayes, Iulia Samachisa, Lilia Torres, Celeste Dodge, Cory Singer
Postdoctoral Scholars
Dr. Alessandro Catenazzi - Assistant Professor, Florida International University (2011-13)
Dr. Rudolf von May - Assistant Professor, California State University Channel Islands (2013)
Dr. Tiffany Yap - Senior Scientist and Wildlife Corridor Advocate, Center for Biological Diversity (2015)
Dr. Ari E. Martínez - Assistant Professor, University of California Santa Cruz (2014)
Former Graduate Students
2023 Kurt Lutz, Oliver Coyle, Andrés Patino-Lopez
2020 Gordon Lau, Adrienne Le, Norma Sackrider
2019 Hasan Sulaeman, Alan Chan, Helen Butler, Heidi Rockney, Shruti Chaukulkar
2018 Carla Sette, Sofia Prado-Irwin, Alicia Bird, Kendra Ritchie Eliseo Parra, Jordan Greer,
2017 Silas Ellison, Andreana Lizethe Manzano, Cory Singer,
2016 Celeste Dodge, Danqing (Stella) Shao, Stephanie Hyland
2015 Jon Young, Gabriela Rios-Sotelo, Raul Figueroa, Angel Jacobo Conde,
2014 Sam McNally, Meghan Bishop
2012 Natalie Reeder,
2011 Tina Cheng
Former Visiting Research Scholars
Dr. Vicky Flechas
Verena Stricker
Dr. Jose Javier Cuervo
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