The Walke Lab

We were thrilled to bring our first cohort of EWU students to the Caribbean island of Montserrat in January 2026 to study tropical biology. We studied the island's rich biodiversity, history, and culture as part of our Tropical Biology in the Caribbean: Studies on Montserrat study abroad program. Already looking forward to 2027's trip!

Emma is studying coral microbiomes and disease in the Caribbean, and Grant is studying salamander microbiomes and disease at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge in the Inland Northwest.

We are so proud of Walke Lab GAANN Fellows, Hannah and Bailee, for completing their master's degrees! Hannah studied "The Effects of Salinity on the Cutaneous Microbiome and Pathogen Infection on the Pacific Tree Frog ( Pseudacris regilla ) in Monterey Bay, California, USA ”. While Hannah's research was based in California, she also spent plenty of time in the field working with amphibians in eastern Washington and in Costa Rica throughout her time at EWU. Hannah is now the R

We are thrilled to have local high school teacher Natasha join the lab for summer research in 2025 and 2026! Natasha has already been a busy bee, working with the West Plains Beekeepers Association collecting samples from hives across the region and evaluating them for parasites, pathogens, pesticides, and microbiomes. Can their gut microbiomes contribute to their resistance to these threats?? Not only will Natasha do the research to address this question, she will also bring

We are so proud of Macee and Talon for successfully defending their theses and graduating. We will miss these two so much! Macee conducted a series of field and laboratory studies evaluating the interactions between pesticides and the gut microbiome in honey bees. Macee's study was NSF-funded and in collaboration with researchers at Virginia Tech. She is a pro in the lab, a fun personality, and will be missed! Talon investigated the interactions among tetrodotoxin, chytrid in

As always, thanks to our collaborators, students, and funding agencies for making our research possible. I was excited to share about our work on the role of microbes in pollinator protection and amphibian conservation at the University of Idaho's Department of Soil and Water Systems seminar.

Talon presents his work on “Understanding the role of Tetrodotoxin on skin microbiome composition and chytrid fungal infection in...

Autumn designed and executed an ambitious lab experiment with tree frogs examining the interactions between the skin microbiome,...

Jenn defended her split thesis, which combined 1) a study of pathogen dynamics over time at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge and 2) a...

Two Walke lab undergraduate NSF-REU students, Jonah Frago and Hanna McCoury, presented their research at the Murdock College Science...