Writing His Ticket
Ohio Wesleyan Student Presents Research at National Comparative Biology Conference
Name: Devon Haley '26
Hometown: Granville, Ohio
High School: Granville High School
Major: Zoology
OWU Connection Experience: Presenting research at the 2026 Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) held Jan. 3-7 in Portland, Oregon.
Haley conducted the research, "Homefield Advantage in Action: Climbing and Sprinting Performance in Podarcis muralis," during OWU's 10-week Summer Scholarship and Research Program (SSRP) in collaboration with OWU students Hayden Kelner '27 of Ashtabula, Ohio; Brittney Parks '27 of Solvay, New York; and Tyler Williard '27 of Ravenna, Ohio. Their research was overseen by Eric Gangloff, Ph.D., associate professor of Biological Sciences, and Bryan Juarez, Ph.D., postdoctoral research scientist.
I will be continuing to write the manuscript for my research over the course of the semester in hopes of getting it published in a scientific journal.
Exploring Evolution
The work expands Professor Gangloff's ongoing studies of the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) and the lessons learned from its evolution since it was brought to Cincinnati, Ohio, from Italy in the 1950s.
In their research abstract, Haley and his fellow student-scientists state: "In Cincinnati, Ohio, this species mainly occupies human-built environments, but some are also found in more natural forest habitats. In this study, we compared the sprinting and climbing speeds of lizards from both habitat types at five different temperatures and on two different surfaces, stone and tree bark. … Here, we test the 'homefield advantage' hypothesis – that traits match the environments in which they live."
Haley received an OWU Connection grant to present at the national conference and notes, "I will be continuing to write the manuscript for my research over the course of the semester in hopes of getting it published in a scientific journal."
Why This Experience?
"To gain valuable experience needed to succeed in graduate school, and to prove to myself that I could. Also, very few undergrads actually present research at the conference, so I got a special opportunity when I got accepted."
Favorite Moments
"My favorite moment was presenting the data that I spent the majority of my summer collecting and analyzing."
Lessons Learned
"I learned about the amount of preparation that a formal scientific presentation takes from everyone in the lab. I also learned how to make meaningful connections with potential graduate school advisors and other researchers in my field.
"Experiences like this matter because it inspires me to do more research and share more of my ideas with others."
Campus Involvements
"I play football and work with Dr. Gangloff and the GLARE lab on his lizard research."
In February, Haley was recognized by the National Football Foundation Columbus Chapter as one of Central Ohio's top scholar-athletes for achievements on and off the field, including his scientific research.
Why Ohio Wesleyan?
Haley chose OWU so that he could "have a tailored education that suits my needs and goals, and play football with my friends and teammates."
Plans After Graduation
"Going to graduate school and pursuing a degree in marine biology. OWU has given me numerous resources to succeed and express my ideas to people with influence in the scientific community."