My name is Bethany Williams
I am a NSF PRFB postdoctoral fellow at the University of Missouri St. Louis
Research Interests: My research interests are centered on 1) understanding how animals that live in extreme environments have evolved to do so and, 2) understanding how organisms will be affected by multiple environmental stressors and other anthropogenic pressures. I am broadly interested in how organisms use physiological and behavioral mechanisms to cope with environmental stressors like hypoxia, turbidity, and warming temperatures. I use a combination of field and laboratory techniques to address these questions. Currently, I am studying how multiple stressor tolerance has arised in Poeciliids that live in sulfidic, hypoxic springs. My PhD research has focused specifically on understanding how the combination of hypoxia and turbidity affect the reproductive physiology and behavior of an African cichlid (Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor). My Master's research on wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) focused on understanding the physiology of freeze tolerance.
