University of Wyoming, Department of Zoology & Physiology

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University of Wyoming, Department of Zoology & Physiology

The official page of the University of Wyoming Department of Zoology & Physiology.

Showcasing our people, research, teaching, fieldwork, and discoveries from Wyoming and around the world.

08/31/2026

We want to extend a warm welcome to our students as they make their way back to campus for the Fall 2026 semester! To our returning students: welcome back! To our new students: welcome, and we are so excited to see you learn, grow, and join our community here in the Zoology & Physiology Department.

Keep an eye out for exciting news regarding seminar schedules, scholarship opportunities, and department events. We have a busy Fall ahead!

08/18/2026

Over the last six months, the Tarwater lab has been hard at work in O'ahu, Hawai'i as part of the Hawaii VINE Project, led by Corey Tarwater and Patrick Kelley. The team is answering questions about plant-disperser interactions, seed dispersal, and pollination services in this novel ecosystem.

This past season included monthly outreach events and daily field work to quantify fruit abundance, bird abundance, and disperser-plant interactions using game cameras, as well as implement and troubleshoot a plot-level fruit removal experiment. We were challenged by new protocols, extreme weather, and landslides, but had a successful season! This work is ongoing; many thanks to all the people involved in continued data collection.

08/11/2026

As summer begins to wind down, and we prepare to welcome students back, we wanted to post a quick throwback from Fall 2025! Hosted in October 2025, the ZP Open Lab event was a great success, and we were thrilled to welcome friends, alumni, family, and our community into our building to show off our research, students, and faculty!

08/04/2026

Summer field season is in full swing! 🌊🐟 As part of the Walters (ZP Dept) and Wagner (Botany Dept) labs, M.S. student Caroline Varie and technicians Desire Umbora and Olivia Lord are surveying streams across northeast Wyoming to study the distribution, abundance, and genetics of Plains Sucker (Pantosteus jordani). Conducted in partnership with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, this research will help improve our understanding of the species' distribution and provide information to support the conservation and management of this native Wyoming fish.

07/28/2026

While some of our researchers travel the globe, others are staying close to home! Take a look at the Barrile lab, who are studying the amphibian community across Wyoming wetlands!

Maura Borden, an MS student in the Barrile lab, is investigating habitat associations and characteristics that lead to successful breeding and metamorphosis in amphibians. Maura and her Research Technician, Kaylan Zysk study six species in particular: Rocky Mountain Toads, Great Plains Toads, Plains Spadefoots, Boreal Chorus Frogs, Northern Leopard Frogs, and Tiger Salamanders.

All animals are handled strictly for scientific purposes with training from the University of Wyoming.

07/21/2026

Graduate research is taking the Koprowski Conservation Research Lab halfway around the world! As part of Lindsey Mitchell’s M.S. project, her research features squirrels and treeshrews in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in Malaysian Borneo.

This project collects baseline data on several species (which have not been studied in this region before) and explores whether certain squirrels or treeshrews can serve as effective indicators of rainforest health. Borneo is home to an incredible diversity, with ~15 species of squirrels and ~4 species of treeshrews, at their field site alone. They range in size from the tiny Bornean pygmy squirrel (about 15 grams) to the impressive giant squirrel, which can weigh up to 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds)!

Disclaimer: All animals are handled strictly for scientific purposes, with clearance and permits from Sabah Wildlife Department, Danau Girang Field Centre, and the University of Wyoming.

07/16/2026

New research featuring the Wyoming Bird Initiative for Resilience and Diversity (WYOBIRD), directed by Zoology & Physiology faculty member Corey Tarwater, is helping scientists better understand how Tree Swallows respond to a changing climate. The study shows that northern tree swallow populations are experiencing greater declines in abundance compared to their more southern populations.

The collaborative research paper, "Divergent population trajectories despite similar response to temperature in a widespread aerial insectivore" was published on July 7th in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The paper has a total of 81 co-authors, including Tarwater and former Zoology Ph.D. student Sam Case, the first graduate student involved in studying tree swallows through WYOBIRD.

Read more about the research on the University of Wyoming News: https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2026/07/uws-wyobird-contributes-to-study-on-climate-sensitivity-among-tree-swallows.html

07/13/2026

Zoology & Physiology wants to extend a big CONGRATS to Maycie Schultz (Sun Lab) and Cutter Barrus (Pratt Lab), both of which were presented with awards at the recent 10th biennial National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence (NISBRE). From the UW News:

"Maycie Schultz, a UW doctoral student in Zoology and Physiology from Sioux Falls, S.D., was selected to give an oral presentation on her research, “Transcriptomic Insights into Alzheimer’s Disease Progression: scRNAseq and Visium HD Spatial Mapping Reveal AD-Specific Molecular Drivers in A Mouse Model.” She received a Scientific Merit Award for her presentation".

"Of the 369 posters displayed over three days, UW Zoology and Physiology undergraduate student Cutter Barrus, of Powell, received one of three Outstanding Poster Presentation Awards for his research poster, “Xenopus Tadpoles Display Distinct and Enduring Visual Preferences.” He also received an Undergraduate Travel Award".

Read more about the conference and their awards here: https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2026/07/uw-students-present-win-at-national-biomedical-symposium.html

07/07/2026

From lowland tropical forests to high altitude páramo ecosystems, Zoology & Physiology’s summer research is in full swing!

Michael Dillon, along with graduate students Alex Kurtt and Ripken Wellikson, have been working in Colombia with Victor Gonzalez (University of Kansas) and Lucía Aguilar Benavides (Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Bogotá, Colombia) to study native bumble bees, orchid bees, and stingless bees.

A huge thanks to Michael, Ripken, and Alex for these great photos and sharing their exciting research with us!

Address

1000 E University Avenue
Laramie, WY
82071

Website

https://www.uwyo.edu/zoology/index.html

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