Alumni Spotlight

Jakub Zegar, environmental science ’20, momentarily handled (under state and federal permits) an eastern rat snake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) with its mouth agape (seen below) in an attempt to appear larger than it actually is. Zegar was working to scan the snake for an identifying microchip during an active study of snake ecology in New Jersey. The 2016 STAR Scholar and UREP undergraduate research leader and ambassador is now a graduate student with the Ohmer Lab at the University of Mississippi. He is focusing his studies on the influence of disease and climate change on global amphibian populations. Most recently, he conducted a project in collaboration with the Voyles Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno where he investigated how acclimation temperature and disease impact the thermal physiology of the critically endangered Panamanian golden frog (Atelopus zeteki) right, — a critically endangered species on the brink of extinction. Once an abundant frog in Panama, this species has experienced drastic declines due to a globalized fungal pathogen. This pathogen, described as the world’s most destructive pathogen, has been directly implicated in the decline of more than 500 species and the extinction of at least 90 species in just the last 50 years.