Category: Lab News
Study co-authored by Brad and former lab member Peter Scott offers new conservation strategy for the threatened desert tortoise
The study, co-authored by Brad Shaffer and former UCLA postdoc Peter Scott, was published in Science on Nov. 26 and was publicized by a UCLA news release. The news was covered by many outlets,...
Joint effort to rescue endangered native pond turtles proves successful
A team of biologists — including members from the U.S. Geological Survey, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, University of California, Los Angeles, Endemic Environmental Services Inc., Citrus College and San...
Peter Scott accepts faculty position at West Texas A & M
Peter Scott is an evolutionary biologist and herpetologist interested in the mechanisms responsible for lineage diversification and persistence. His work in the our lab focuses on 1) the utility of different genomic sequencing methods...
Study published in PeerJ by UCLA students highlights deadly trends threatening population stability of California’s only native turtle
The students used a combination of historical museum samples (they measured every turtle in the major museum collections across northern and southern California), and published and unpublished field studies to quantify the effect of...
As climate change messes with temperature and precipitation, California newts suffer
A study led by Gary Bucciarelli, and published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, examined body condition of newts across their entire range, from San Diego to Mendocino. In the south, researchers discovered that...
Experimental removal of introduced slider turtles offers new insight into competition with a native, threatened turtle
The results of the study highlight the importance of manipulative field experiments when studying biological invasions, and the potential value of red-eared slider removal as a management strategy for the western pond turtle. Lambert...
UCLA La Kretz Center to lead $10 million California conservation project in state-funded initiative that will provide officials with scientific basis for confronting climate change
“This project has the potential to revolutionize how we manage our land,” said Bradley Shaffer, who leads the project and is a UCLA distinguished professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and director of UCLA’s...
Natalia Gallego Garcia interviewed by Molecular Ecology about her work with the Dahl’s Toad-headed turtle
Natalia Gallego Garcia was interviewed by a Molecular Ecology blogger about the challenges of working with the Dahl’s Toad-headed turtle and how her study provides the foundation for a genetic rescue program for this...
Endangered species and the case for “sanctuary cities”
Brad Shaffer is featured in an essay by Ursula K. Heise on the possibility of cities as “urban arks”. Read the story in the June 10, 2018 issue of Wired magazine >>