I am a broadly interested evolutionary ecologist whose research spans topics as diverse as thermal ecology interacting with phenotypic plasticity to applied, conservation-oriented work. Over the past several years, I have also become a herpetologist who works primarily with lizards, but I am always interested in exploring different organisms and systems. My dissertation research explores geographic variation in cell size, growth rates, and body size, and temperature-induced plasticity of these traits in the green anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis.

Background: Geographic variation in body size greatly interests biologists because of the influence of body size on most aspects of life. Temperature is considered a major influence on size in reptiles, particularly in oviparious species where embryonic development may be susceptible to the environment. A negative relationship between cell size and temperature has been demonstrated in many ectothermic invertebrates, in both developmental and evolutionary contexts. Larger cells (standardized per unit of tissue) may be more efficient with respect to energy and allow for lower metabolic rates, which may be advantageous in colder environments with lower resource availability and/or predictability. However, the generality of relationships between environmental temperature, cell size, and body size have not been established and have scarcely been examined in vertebrates.

Various projects within the scope of my dissertation answer the following questions:

1) Does body size differ among adults throughout the range of Anolis carolinensis, and if so, are trends evidents across environmental gradients?

2) Does body size of hatchlings differ among a subset of populations, and if so, is this effect solely attributable to maternal effects of egg size?

3) Does incubation temperature affect body size of hatchlings among a subset of populations, and if so, does plasticity vary by population?

4) Does incubation temperature affect post-hatching growth rates of hatchlings in a common environment?

5) Do post-hatching growth rates (relative to hatching size) vary by population, and if so, is this attributable to egg size alone?

6) Does cell size vary geographically, and if so, are trends evidents across environmental gradients?

7) Does cell size exhibit temperature-induced plasticity, and if so, does plasticity vary by population?

8) Is offspring cell size related to offspring body size, maternal cell size, or egg size?

During my graduate studies, I have also worked on the following projects:
- Behavioral ecology and conservation of a rare endemic iguana in the Caribbean
- Effects of tail autotomy on locomotion and growth of juvenile lizards
- Effects of developmental temperature on thermoregulation in juvenile lizards
- Comparison of thermal dynamics and temperature selection in juveniles of two sympatric anole species

My Master’s research investigated the spatial distribution, movements, and habitat utilization of captive-bred, released blue iguanas, Cyclura lewisi, in a botanic park on Grand Cayman.
PDF version of Thesis
Pictures from this project

Undergraduate research: I received a B.A. in Environmental Biology at Columbia University in 2001. There I worked with Dr. Matthew Gompper on two projects:
- Surveying endoparasites in coyotes, Canis latrans, throughout New York state and
- Behavioral ecology and parasitology of raccoons, Procyon lotor, in Black Rock Forest, New York
Pictures from these projects

I was also research assistant to Dr. Francesca Marubini at Columbia University's Biosphere 2 in Tucson, AZ on the project:
- Effects of light on the physiology of the hard coral, Porites compressa

Email - rmgoodman*at*utk.edu