I am a senior biology major at Davidson College and have been in the herpetology lab since the second semester of my junior year.  During the fall of my junior year, I studied abroad in Costa Rica and spent part of my time researching altitudinal shifts in bird species distributions.  Upon returning to Davidson, I joined the herp lab to help with a long term study of the effects of urbanization on stream salamanders.  After this intro to salamanders, I ended up looking for an opportunity to continue work with these critters over the summer.  I ended up at the Mountain Lake Biological station, where I conducted research through an NSF-funded REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program.  My summer research on size-structured interactions between crayfish (Cambarus bartonii) and spring salamander larvae (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) has now reached the data analysis phase.  I am currently working in the herp lab, helping to run the drift fence on the Davidson College Ecological Preserve and beginning research on abiotic factors affecting the detectability of stream salamanders.