People

Please contact me (jdelbar@ilstu.edu) if you are interested in joining my lab! Please make sure to include your current CV and a cover letter in which you explain your research experience and goals, and what type of research you would want to conduct in my lab. You can find information about the School of Biological Sciences graduate programs (MS and PhD) and their requirements here, and about the application procedure here. We have a thriving, welcoming and friendly graduate program. The application deadline is on February for a start on the following Fall. Graduate students are supported by teaching assistantships. Please email me if you want further information.

Current lab members

Former lab members

Graduate students

• Tania Regacho (Masters). 2018-2020. University College Cork. Project: “Changes across time in rural populations of rodent species and their use as controls in urban ecology studies”
  • Publication: Regacho, T. and delBarco-Trillo, J. (2022) Morphological stability of rural populations supports their use as controls in urban ecology studies. Urban Ecosystems. 25: 1611-1618. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-022-01253-4
• Basmah Alrasheedi (MSc Marine Biology). 2017. University College Cork. Project: “Effects of selenium supplementation on sperm function in male oysters”
• Waad AlOtaibi (MSc Marine Biology). 2017. University College Cork. Project: “Effects of pollution on sperm physiology in male bivalves”
• Daniel Zarka (PhD, co-supervised). Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC, Spain. Project: “Sexual selection and the evolution of sperm competitivity: how to increase sperm velocity avoiding oxidative damage”.
• Ester Sansegundo (PhD, co-supervised). Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC, Spain. Project: “Effect of sperm competition on the mechanisms that prepare spermatozoa for fecundation”

Undergraduate students

University College Cork

• Morgain Siede. 2019-2020. Project: “Urban biodiversity in different socioeconomic neighborhoods”
• Barry Cronin. 2019-2020. Project: “Aggregation decisions in terrestrial isopods”
• Evan Hickey. 2019-2020. Project: “Sperm competition, Leydig cells, and testosterone production”
• Kate O’Donell. 2018-2019. Project: “Do territory sizes change in urban environments? A meta-analysis”
  • Publication: O’Donnell, K. and delBarco-Trillo, J. (2020) Changes in the home range sizes of terrestrial vertebrates in response to urban disturbance: a meta-analysis. Journal of Urban Ecology. 6: juaa014. https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juaa014
• Gillian Kelly. 2018-2019. Project: “Factors affecting wildlife rehabilitation success across Canadian species”
  • Publication: Kelly, G. and delBarco-Trillo, J. (2020) Importance of taxonomic group, life stage and circumstance of rescue upon wildlife rehabilitation in Ontario, Canada. Journal for Nature Conservation. 57: 125897. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125897
• Thomas McCarthy. 2018-2019. Project: “Have tardigrades transitioned into alternative niches in cities?”
  • Publication: McCarthy, T. and delBarco-Trillo, J. (2020) Tardigrade abundance in relation to urbanization and highly anthropogenic substrates. Journal of Urban Ecology. 6: juaa008. https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juaa008
• Ian Dunne. 2018-2019. Project: “Aggregation behaviors in urban woodlice”
• David Culleton. 2017-2018. Project: “Ecology of lizards in relation to anthropogenic stressors”
• Ellen Hill. 2017-2018. Project: “Body condition in urban animals: a meta-analysis”
• Fiach Byrne. 2017-2018. Project: “The effects of grassland and hedgerow management on bee abundance”
  • Publication: Byrne, F. and delBarco-Trillo, J. (2019) The effect of management practices on bumblebee densities in hedgerow and grassland habitats. Basic and Applied Ecology. 35: 28-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2018.11.004
• Laura Peoples. 2017-2018. Project: “Reproductive behavior of ring-tailed lemurs and black and white ruffed lemurs”
• Naomi Lisa Walsh. 2017-2018. Project: “Spatial and social learning in goats and their retention ability”
• Rachel Breslin. 2017-2018. Project: “Effect of sperm competition on testosterone production”
• Michaela Peters. 2016-2017. Project: “The effects of urbanization on soil invertebrates in the Cork City area”
• Paul Kelly. 2016-2017. Project: “Fluctuating asymmetry to assess developmental stress in urban rodents”
• Thomas Raymond. 2016-2017. Project: “Behavioral comparison of urban and rural birds using flight initiation distances”

Liverpool Jonh Moores University

• Anna Starkey. 2015-2016. Project: “Effect of supplementary feeding on populations of red squirrels”
  • Publication: Starkey, A. and delBarco-Trillo, J. (2019) Supplementary feeding can attract red squirrels, Sciurus vulgaris, to optimal environments. Mammalian Biology. 94: 134-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2018.05.004
• Evie Hyland. 2015-2016. Project: “Boldness and vigilance by varied flock sizes of pigeons in urban sites”
• Lucy Mellor. 2015-2016. Project: “Association patterns in several primate species in captivity”
• Olivia Evans. 2015-2016. Project: “Social behaviors in catarrhine primates”

Cornell University

• Kara Gulewicz. 2007-2009.
  • Publication: delBarco-Trillo, J., Gulewicz, K. and Johnston, R.E. (2009) Medial amygdala involvement in discrimination of same-species and closely-related-species male stimuli in estrous female Mesocricetus hamsters. Behavioral Neuroscience. 123: 758-763. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016439
  • Publication: delBarco-Trillo, J., Gulewicz, K., Segal, A., McPhee, M.E. and Johnston, R.E. (2009) Can captivity lead to inter-species mating in two Mesocricetus hamster species?Journal of Zoology. 278: 308-312. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00577.x
• Alex B. LaVenture. 2008-2009.
  • Publication: delBarco-Trillo, J., LaVenture, A. and Johnston, R.E. (2009) Male hamsters discriminate estrous state from vaginal secretions and individuals from flank marks. Behavioural Processes. 82: 18-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2009.03.003