Contact Information

Google Scholar Profile

Biography

Dr. Sarah Woodley is a broadly trained integrative physiologist who utilizes behavioral, neural, endocrine, ecological, and evolutionary approaches to explore organismal biology across various systems. Throughout her career, Dr. Woodley has conducted research with amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, employing both laboratory and field-based techniques. Her background in comparative systems enables her to leverage natural systems that offer insights into principles relevant to all vertebrates, including humans.

In addition to her research endeavors, Dr. Woodley is actively engaged in teaching. She instructs courses such as Human Physiology, Cell and Systems Physiology Lab, Honors Thesis Research, and graduate-level classes in Conservation Physiology and Ecoimmunology. Dr. Woodley integrates community-engaged learning practices into her courses and extends these approaches into the summer undergraduate research program.

Professionally, Dr. Woodley is a member of the Society of Comparative and Integrative Biology and serves as the Editor-in-Chief for the journal Herpetologica.

Education

  • Ph.D., Biology, Arizona State University
  • M.S., Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago
  • B.A., French, Indiana University
  • B.S., Biology with Honors, Indiana University

Research Interests

Effects of Environmental Stressors on Vertebrate Physiology and Behavior; Antimicrobial and Pheromonal Properties of Amphibian Skin Secretions; Science Education

Project 1: Impact of Environmental Stressors on Animal Health and Disease

Environmental factors such as pesticides, acid mine drainage, and climate change are potential stressors that disrupt physiological processes and behaviors essential to survival and reproduction. I examine the effects of environmental factors on vertebrate biology using amphibians as models. This work involves characterizing responses to both natural and manmade stressors, in the field and the laboratory. My work measures the effects of environmental factors on a variety of endpoints including gene expression, developmental rate, neurobiology, behavior, hormone levels, brain neuropeptide levels, intermediary metabolism, and immune function, including susceptibility to the amphibian chytrid fungus.

Project 2: Antimicrobial and Pheromonal Properties of Amphibian Skin Secretions

Amphibians have extremely glandular skin remarkable for the wide diversity of molecular structures and functions. I study amphibian skin secretions in three overlapping contexts: 1) the ability of amphibian skin secretions to inhibit microbial growth of bacteria that are relevant to human health; 2) the ability of amphibian skin secretions to inhibit growth of amphibian chytrid fungi that are contributing to serious declines of amphibians around the globe and 3) the role of amphibian skin in producing pheromones that have effects on behavior and physiology.

Project 3: Community-Engaged Learning

As part of an NSF REU Site Award, I am incorporating community-engaged learning into our summer undergraduate research program. This work is an extension of previous work that showed the efficacy of combining community engagement, novel research, and science communication in a classroom laboratory experience. 

School