Pymatuning Lab of Ecology

04/21/2026

Every now and then a spotlight is shown on how just incredible PLE really is! Shout out to our amazing PLE Director, Dr. Cori Zawacki and our Assistant Director, Chris Davis, on an interview well done!

Pitt’s Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology has hosted a rotating cast of prominent researchers for nearly a century.

02/06/2026

Summer is just around the corner—secure your spot for hands-on field courses at the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology (PLE)! 🌿 Registration opens Feb. 16th, but space is limited. Join our online information session on Feb. 11th to learn more and get your questions answered.

🗓️ Register for the Info Session here: https://form.jotform.com/220304576956056

10/11/2024

Nature put on a show for us during our fieldwork last night

07/08/2024

Join us on Wednesday, 7/10, at 7pm in the Pymatuning Lab dining hall for a seminar by Dr. Andy Turner of PennWest-Clarion entitled " Stream Ecology in a Changing World: a Multi-Scale Approach to Evaluating Threats to Water Quality"

06/24/2024

Join us Wednesday 6/26 at the PLE Dining Hall for a seminar by Dr. Grascen Shidemantle, Executive Director the the Community Science Institute, entitled: From Academic Research to Non-Profit Leadership: My Journey to Executive Director of a Community Science NGO

05/20/2024

Join us in the PLE dining hall on Wednesday 5/22 at 7pm for a seminar by PhD student Trapper Hobble entitled "Assessing the impact of phenotypic plasticity on the evolutionary outcomes of Spirodela polyrhiza populations"

05/13/2024

Join us at the PLE Dining hall (11758 Fries Rd., Linesville PA 16424) at 7pm on Wednesday, 5/15 to hear Dr. Steve Nowicki from Duke University talk about "The Beak of the (Zebra) Finch: A Story of Perception and the Evolution of Reliable Signaling"

02/08/2024

Join us on Saturday, March 2 at the Pittsburgh Zoo to become a FrogWatch USA volunteer! Training will be provided on how to identify the various calls of our local frog and toad species, how to identify a good wetland to monitor, and how to record and enter your data into the FrogWatch USA online database. Check out the details at this link:
https://www.pittsburghzoo.org/class-frogwatch-usa/

07/18/2023

Join us on Tuesday 7/25 at 7pm in the dining hall to hear Patrick Shirey talk about his work "Studying the recovery of species and the restoration of stream systems"

07/12/2023

Join us on Tuesday 7/18 at 7pm in the PLE dining hall for a seminar by entitled "Using experimental evolutionary ecology to understand biological invasions"