Mason Murphy

Research Interests:

My research explores the drivers and consequences of animal movement behaviors as well as landscape-scale population genetic structure and gene flow. To do this, I use a combination of experiments and molecular techniques harnessing next generation sequence data to explore movement behavior, genetic diversity, and population connectivity, with a particular focus on amphibians. As the director of the Herpetology Lab, I conduct research with undergraduates related to the husbandry, food preferences, and coloration of a variety of reptiles. Further, the Herpetology Lab is engaged in public outreach related to the ecology, evolution, and conservation of reptiles and amphibians.

Recent Publications:

Murphy, M., & Boone, M. (2022). Evaluating the role of body size and habitat type in movement behavior in human‐dominated systems: A frog's eye view. Ecology and Evolution, 12(6), e9022.

Weisrock, D. W., Hime, P. M., Nunziata, S. O., Jones, K. S., Murphy, M. O., Hotaling, S., & Kratovil, J. D. (2021). Surmounting the large-genome “problem” for genomic data generation in salamanders. Population genomics: wildlife, 115-142.

Rasche, E., Murphy, M. O., & Boone, M. D. (2020). Phonotactic Response of Juvenile Cope’s Gray Treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis) Exposed to Conspecific and Heterospecific Acoustic Signals. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 15(3), 498-505.

Impact Publications:

Powell, T. H., Hood, G. R., Murphy, M. O., Heilveil, J. S., Berlocher, S. H., Nosil, P., & Feder, J. L. (2013). Genetic divergence along the speciation continuum: the transition from host race to species in Rhagoletis (Diptera: Tephritidae). Evolution, 67(9), 2561-2576.

Agha, M., Lovich, J. E., Ennen, J. R., Augustine, B., Arundel, T. R., Murphy, M. O., ... & Price, S. J. (2015). Turbines and terrestrial vertebrates: variation in tortoise survivorship between a wind energy facility and an adjacent undisturbed wildland area in the desert southwest (USA). Environmental Management, 56(2), 332-341.

Murphy, M. O., Jones, K. S., Price, S. J., & Weisrock, D. W. (2018). A genomic assessment of population structure and gene flow in an aquatic salamander identifies the roles of spatial scale, barriers, and river architecture. Freshwater Biology, 63(5), 407-419.