News

  • Undergraduate Grants!

    Congratulations to Colton, Sofie, Mo, Megan, and Rainyr for receiving Hooper Undergraduate Research Awards to fund their thesis work! April 2024

  • Congratulations Ashlyn!

    Ashlyn, a new masters student in the lab, received her first grant — nearly $4k —to fund her thesis work. Great job, Ash! April 2024

  • Welcome

    Several new undergraduate researchers have joined the lab. Welcome Zeke, Mo, Megan, and Rainyr! January 2024

  • Congratulations Sofie!

    Sofie earned the university nomination for the Goldwater Scholarship, a nationally competitive research-focused award. Great job, Sofie! December 2023

The Carter lab in the Amazon

Amanda joined 55 scientists from across the globe to discuss biodiversity conservation in the heart of the Amazon rainforest with the NSF-funded RCN, G2P2Pop. Check out the press release to learn more (English, Portuguese).

March 2023

Finding the Wild Within

The trailer for our educational short film, “Finding the Wild Within” is out! What a joy it has been collaborating on this project with Costa and Andrew!

March 2023

  • Welcome to the lab!

    The Carter Lab has three new undergraduate researchers: Colton Roberts, Ashlyn Trujillo, and Sofie Bongiorni. Welcome! February 2023

  • Sex Ratios in the Anthropocene

    The special issue I edited with Bill Hopkins from Virginia Tech, “Sex Ratios in the Anthropocene,” is out now in Frontiers: Ecology and Evolution.

    You can read our brief editorial on the topic here, and read all the papers contributed to the issue here. November, 2022

Podcast with Innovation Bound

I joined forces with the creativity experts at Innovation Bound to brainstorm next gen. educational products for use in and out of the classroom. Get a sneak peak into my latest pedagogy projects and experience the creativity consultation workflow provided by Costa at Innovation Bound.

December 2021

  • Shaking Things Up in Wildlife Biology

    I am excited to continue to push the limits on conventional classroom teaching for Virginia Tech’s Wildlife Biology course in spring 2022.

  • Filming in Florida

    I am looking forward to working with expedition photographer Andrew James Ferris and innovation guru Costa Michailidis to develop a new case study on diving physiology in Florida in spring 2022.

  • Editor for Special Issue in Frontiers

    I’ve partnered with Bill Hopkins from Virginia Tech to co-edit a special issue in Frontiers: Ecology and Evolution, “Sex Ratios in the Anthropocene.” Check back for the published issue soon.

Awarded an AAUW Postdoctoral Fellowship

I am so thankful to have been awarded an AAUW American Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship to continue my research in organismal responses to climate change.

July 2021

  • Dung Beetle Responses to Temperature Flux

    Amplitude of temperature fluctuation induces distinct transcriptomic and metabolomic responses in the dung beetle Phanaeus vindex. 2020. Journal of Experimental Biology.

  • Student Mentee's Senior Thesis Published!

    Dung beetles show metabolic plasticity as pupae and smaller adult body size in response to increased temperature mean and variance. 2020. Journal of Insect Physiology.

  • First Dung Beetle Paper is Out!

    Life stages differ in plasticity to temperature fluctuations and uniquely contribute to adult phenotype. 2020. Journal of Experimental Zoology.

  • Summer STEM Camp Launch

    I had so much fun working with collaborators to launch a summer STEM camp with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in July, 2018. Keep tabs on the annual event here.

Awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship

I am so thankful to have been awarded an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship: Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. I will be using dung beetles to test plastic responses to climate change across life stages and will launch a summer STEM camp for high school students on the Qualla Boundary. I will be collaborating with Dr. Kimberly Sheldon at the University of Tennessee and Dr. Caleb Hickman with the Cherokee Fisheries and Wildlife.

March 2018

Outstanding Dissertation Award

I am so honored to be the recipient of Illinois State University’s 2018 Clarence Sorensen Distinguished Dissertation Award.

  • Heat Waves and Sex Ratios

    Short heatwaves during fluctuating incubation regimes produce females under temperature-dependent sex determination with implications for sex ratios in nature. 2018. Scientific Reports.

  • Seasonal Sex Ratios

    Seasonal shifts in sex ratios are mediated by maternal effects and fluctuating incubation temperatures. 2016. Functional Ecology.

  • Behavioral Types in Hatchlings

    Turtle hatchlings show behavioral types that are robust to environmental manipulations during development. 2016. Physiology & Behavior.