My research interests are broad, encompassing various aspects of ecology, genetics, and conservation biology of herpetofauna. Specifically, I am interested in the landscape ecology and landscape genetics of amphibians and reptiles in natural and altered environments. I also have a strong interest in GIS technologies, and see the integration of GIS analyses of herpetofaunal distributions, movements, and habitat use within the landscape as essential components to forming biologically relevant conservation recommendations. In 2005 I graduated from Butler University with a B.S. While at Butler I was a researcher with the Urban Turtle Ecology Research Project (U-TERP). My research there utilized radio telemetry and GIS to evaluate the movements of Chelydra serpentina in the Central Canal of Indianapolis. I also conducted an observational study of the basking behavior of turtles within the canal.

For more U-TERP information go to: www.butler.edu/uterp/home

I completed my Master's research at the University of Missouri in 2008 where my research assessed the effects of riparian buffer strips on stream salamander populations in the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. From this research we learned that current U.S. Forest Service guidelines inadequately protect stream-breeding salamander populations in low order, headwater streams. Due to the loss of upland forest and increased stream sedimentation, both larval and adult salamander populations declined.

I am currently working toward my Ph.D. with my main interests focusing on dispersal and distribution of amphibians both at geologic and contemporary time scales. To answer questions in this vein I plan to conduct range-wide phylogeographic analyses as well as fine-scale landscape genetic analyses. Currently, most landscape genetic analyses focus on how a single species' genetic structure is related to the landscape it inhabits, overlooking the variation of life history characteristics present within a community. To address this issue, I will conduct a multispecies landscape genetic study to determine how species with different life history characteristics perceive the same landscape, leading to conservation and management recommendations that encompass a suite of species.

Landscape genetics of Ambystoma jeffersonianum and A. texanum within an agricultural landscape (with J. Crawford and A. Kuhns).

Estimating detectability of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis across the Midwestern United States (with J. Crawford, C. Phillips, and M. Lannoo).

Mapping the distributions of Appalachian plethodontid salamanders with an emphasis on the effects of future land use and climate change (with J. Milanovich).  

Camp, C.D., W.E. Peterman, J.R. Milanovich, T. Lamb, J.C. Maerz, and D.B. Wake. 2009. A new genus and species of lungless salamander (family Plethodontidae) from the Appalachian highlands of the south-eastern United States. Journal of Zoology 279:86– 94.

Peterman, W.E., and R.D. Semlitsch. 2009. Efficacy of riparian buffer in mitigating local population declines and the effects of even-aged timber harvest on larval salamanders. Forest Ecology and Management 257:8–14.

Peterman, W.E., and S. C. Truslow. 2008. Density estimation of larval Eurycea wilderae: a comparison of mark-recapture and depletion sampling. Herpetological Review 39:438– 442.

New Genus of plethodontid salamander from north Georgia (Urspelerpes brucei) [pdf]

Peterman, W.E., J.A. Crawford, and R.D. Semlitsch. 2008. Productivity and significance of headwater streams: population structure and biomass of the black-bellied salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus). Freshwater Biology 53:347–357.

Peterman, W.E. and R.D. Semlitsch. 2006. Effects of Tricaine Methanesulfonate (MS-222) concentration on anesthetization and recovery in four plethodontid salamanders. Herpetological Review 37:303-304.

Peterman, W.E. and T.J. Ryan. (Accepted). Basking behavior of Emydid turtles (Chysemys picta marginata, Graptemys geographica, and Trachemys scripta elegans) in an urban landscape. Northeastern Naturalist