PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Jonah Piovia-Scott
jonah.piovia-scott@wsu.edu
phone: 360-546-9657
Jonah grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and got his undergraduate education at UC Santa Cruz. After finishing his undergraduate degree he worked as a technician at the University of Washington School of Oceanography before going on to get his PhD at UC Davis with Thomas Schoener and David Spiller. He did postdoctoral research at UC Davis and UC Berkeley with Louie Yang, Mary Power, Sharon Lawler, and Janet Foley. After spending a year as an Assistant Professor at UC Riverside he moved to WSUV, where he has been a professor since 2015. He enjoys hiking, gardening, and playing with his children.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Julianna Hallza (Ph.D., Biology)
Julianna is from Olympia, Washington, and she completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and Aquatic & Fishery Science with a minor in Quantitative Science at the University of Washington in 2022. As an undergraduate, Julianna’s research focused on amphibian habitat restoration and horned lizard phylogenetics. During her undergraduate summers, she worked for the Forest Service as a wildlife technician in Montana and Utah, and these jobs along with undergraduate research experience inspired her to pursue a graduate degree in the Piovia-Scott Lab. Her research will focus on how amphibians can benefit from beaver relocation projects in the context of climate change, and her areas of interests include habitat restoration, climate change impacts on amphibians, and species interactions. In her free time, Julianna likes to bird-watch, run, hike, read, rock-climb, garden, and enjoy tiny living in her built-out van.
Susanna Masecar (Ph.D., Biology)
Washington is now the second state Susie has called home. She lived in Central North Carolina before moving to Vancouver. After completing a BS in biology and environmental/ecological sciences at Elon University in 2015, she earned a DVM with a focus in zoological medicine at North Carolina State University in 2019. Prior to joining the Piovia-Scott lab, Susie practiced as an exotics veterinarian in Raleigh, NC. As part of a broader multi-institution amphibian pathogen dynamics project, Susie will be investigating common pet amphibian species’ susceptibility to important infectious diseases. Her main interests include amphibian conservation, pathophysiology, diagnostic tools, and ecology. Some of her hobbies include collecting and sometimes making pottery, hiking, and roasting coffee.
Ryan Wagner (Ph.D., Biology)
personal website
Ryan Wagner is from Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from Ohio University in 2020 with a degree in Wildlife and Conservation Biology. He earned his Master’s degree in Environment and Natural Resources in 2023 from Ohio State University. For his MS thesis, Ryan studied mudpuppy salamander populations and the impacts of the chemical lampricide TFM on their population viability. As a Ph.D. student, Ryan combines field work and statistical modeling to support the conservation and management of remnant Cascades frog populations in northern California. He is also a conservation photographer and photojournalist. He is passionate about communicating science and sharing hopeful stories about efforts to protect the world’s most endangered species.
Tracy Melville (M.S., Biology)
Tracy grew up in Lamont, Washington and graduated from Western Washington University with a B.S. in Biology in 2019. Since graduating, she has worked seasonal fisheries and wildlife positions in Colorado, California, Nevada and Idaho, most recently at Rocky Mountain National Park where she monitored boreal toad populations and assisted with toad reintroductions. At WSU-Vancouver, Tracy will be studying the impacts of climate change and disease on amphibian populations in the Pacific Northwest. Her research interests include herpetology, freshwater food webs, riparian restoration and disease dynamics. In her free time, she enjoys running, climbing, backpacking, reading and board games.
RESEARCH TECHNICIANS
Mahlia Bump
Mahlia was born and raised in Vancouver Washington and she wouldn’t have it any other way! She completed her undergrad degree at WSUV majoring in neuroscience and minoring in biology. Although she started school completely online she made it her mission to make an impact on campus. She was the president of the Asian & Pacific Islander Association (APIA) club and the Pre-Dental club. Her favorite event to date has been the Cultural Fashion Show, where APIA teamed up with other culture clubs to showcase traditional clothes from various ethnicities. She’s a proud member of the Piovia-Scott Lab and works with Susie on her research. Mahlia is hoping to go to dental school and she enjoys hiking, goofing off, and drawing in her free time.
UNDERGRADUATES and RESEARCH INTERNS
Em Romero
Em, a Washington state resident, embarked on her college journey in human medicine and nursing, accumulating valuable experience in the medical field. Driven by a profound passion for environmental science and biology, she redirected her path and is currently an undergraduate intern in amphibian pathogen research under the guidance of Dr. Susie Masacar. Beyond academia, Em co-manages Wild Hare Films, a videography business with her life partner. In her leisure, she enjoys the company of her two bunnies, indulges in reading, and expresses her creativity through outdoor artistry.
Christopher Diosdado
Christopher was raised in Guanajuato, Mexico, and moved to Vancouver at 15 years old. He is an undergrad at WSUV majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry and molecular biology. He’s interested in human anatomy and after taking an immunology course, he developed a great enthusiasm in the field and made his goal to become a medical researcher. Christopher intends to get lab experience after graduation and then pursue a PhD in molecular biology. He loves cooking half-burned-half-raw dishes, increasing his board game collection, and playing with his two dogs.
Rawan Tanous
Rawan spent the majority of her childhood in Vancouver, Washington where she is currently working on her BS in Neuroscience. Her interest in research began during high school when she performed a small-scale experiment in her epidemiology class. This began her passion for community health and investigating disease dynamics within susceptible populations. As an intern, she is getting more hands-on experience and technical knowledge about research that she hopes to expand upon in Medical school one day. Outside of university, Rawan’s hobbies include reading, cooking, and online shopping.
Coleman Merle
Coleman was born in up-state New York and moved to Washington when he was 4. He completed his AA Biology degree at Clark College at the age of 17, while obtaining his high school diploma at the same time. He is now an undergraduate at WSU-V majoring in biology and minoring in molecular biology. After receiving his Bachelor’s of Biology, he hopes to pursue a graduate degree in Molecular biology to later work in forensics and genetics on Native Lands. In his free time, he likes photography, working on cars, and playing games with his sister.
Lux Johnson
Lux spent the majority of their childhood in Camas, Washington, and earned their bachelor’s in biology from WSU Vancouver. They work in the Piovia-Scott Lab on amphibian pathogen research under Dr. Susie Masecar and in the Schultz Lab on western monarch ecology and conservation. Lux is also an undergraduate research fellow at the Guo Lab in Pullman working on novel inorganic pigment synthesis and characterization. Their research interests broadly fall under the umbrella of malacology, with particular interests in the taxonomy of the Pacific Northwest’s freshwater gastropods and shell pigment chemistry. They ultimately plan to pursue a Ph.D. in support of these interests. In their free time, Lux enjoys scientific illustration, spending time with their pets, reading, and finding inspiration in the overlap between art and science.
Joseph Wohleb
Joseph was born in northern Nevada and moved to eastern Washington when he was four years old. He started off as a chemical engineering major at WSU Pullman until he found a passion for microbiology after doing a research project in a biology class. He changed his major after this and moved to WSUV. Now he is a biology major, minoring in chemistry and molecular biology. After graduation, he hopes to go to graduate school where he can pursue a PhD in microbiology. In his free time, he likes collecting and painting models, reading, and listening to music.
Michael Ferguson
Trinity Reeves
Eva Larman
Melanie Almas
Hanakah Griffin
Suria Santos
ALUMNI
Graduate students
Jesse Burgher (Ph.D., Biology, 2025)
Wildlife Program Manager, Cowlitz Indian Tribe
Sky Button (Ph.D., Biology, 2024)
Associate Professor, Nanjing Forestry University
Nicolette Nelson (M.S., Biology, 2020)
Wildlife Biologist, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Andrew McIntyre (M.S., Biology, 2020)
Biologist, Cardno
Kimberly Cook (M.S., Biology, 2020)
Research Technician, Oregon Health and Sciences University
Postdoctoral researchers
John Romansic (2017-2019)
Ecologist, H.T. Harvey and Associates.
Undergraduate students, interns, and technicians
Shep Soulinthone (2022-23)
Anthony Gennaro (2023-2024)
Hannah Waters (2023)
Alysha Henderson (2017-23)
Chris Mead (2021-23)
Laboratory Technician, Absci
Emily Vandeberg (2022-23)
Rylee Latham (2023)
Nico Strappazon (2023)
Kalie Morgan (2022)
Rosalinda Olvera (2020-22)
Shannon McCafferty (2021-22)
Ellie Coale (2021)
Pazao Lee (2021)
Lara Tice-York (2021)
Megan Bryant (2019-21)
Laboratory Technician, Absci
Anthony Thorn (2020-21)
Helena Coker (2018-21)
Monica Draculan (2018-20)
Research Technician, Oregon National Primate Research Center
Luke Slind (2018-20)
Research Technician, Oregon National Primate Research Center
Karisma Sexton (2019-20)
Student Assistant, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Mitchell Carey (2018-20)
Gilary Lozano Lopez (2019-20)
Terrell Haywood (2020)
Erick Videira Paucar (2018-20)
Matthew Lewis (2019-20)
Scott Brightbill (2019-20)
Alex Pomraning (2020)
Laura Becker (2019-20)
Nick van Gilder (2017-20)
M.S. student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut
Chelsea Osbron (2017-19)
Chantal Kanso (2018-19)
Gretchen Rathke (2018-19)
Catherine Phung (2018-19)
Michelle Devlaeminck (2018)
Amaury Ferrer (2018)
Paige Jernigan (2017-28)
Angelica Harig (2018)
Amaia Demaray (2017)
Dylan Kubina (2017)
Jennifer Ruthruff (2016-17)
Karina Exton (2016-17)
Nathan Hall (2016-17)
Heather Kenny (2015-16)
Ph.D. student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado