Faculty Bio

Allison R. Litmer

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Education

• B.S., Northern Kentucky University
• M.S., Tennessee Tech University
• Ph.D., University of Arkansas

About

Allison Litmer is a physiological ecologist whose research examines factors promoting persistence of ectothermic organisms, with an emphasis on reptiles and amphibians. Her workcombines field- and lab-based approaches to mechanistically determine the influence of the abiotic and biotic environment on physiological performance. Much of Allison's work quantifies the sensitivity of individual bioenergetics to temperature, activity, and resource availability. She then uses data on individual physiological ecology to examine population-level dynamics through modeling procedures. Allison also approaches research from a comparative perspective, and has compared the utility of standard methods in thermal biology and population-level differences among closely related organisms. Currently, Allison is researching factors contributing to the ability of nonnative species to persist in urban settings, focused on Common Wall Lizards (Podarcis muralis) in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

GLARE Lab Website: https://glare-owu.wixsite.com/glare/

Selected Recent Publications

• Murray, CM, CD McMahan, AR Litmer, JM Goessling, D Siegel. Latitudinal gradients in sexual dimorphism: Alternative hypotheses for variation in male traits. 2021. Ecology and Evolution 11:17519-17526. doi: 10.1002/ece3.8386
• Litmer, AR., M Freake,CM Murray. Neutrophil: lymphocyte ratios as a measure of chronic stress in populations of the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) across a habitat quality gradient. 2020. Copeia, 108:403-415. doi: 10.1643/CP-19-265
• Litmer, AR, CM Murray. Critical Thermal Capacities of Hyla chrysoscelis in Relation to Season. 2020. Journal of Herpetology, 54:413-417. doi: 10.1670/19-124
• Litmer, AR, CM Murray, C.M. Critical thermal tolerance of invasion: Comparative niche breadth of two invasive lizards. 2019. Journal of Thermal Biology, 86:102432. doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2019.102432
• Murray, CM, AR Litmer, M Grisnik, ML Sconyers, C Guyer. Head shape variation among crypticpopulations of ground skinks (Scincella lateralis). 2019. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 57:877-883. doi: 10.1111/jzs.12314