Image created by Andrew Lehoullier

Tawnya Cary is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. Tawnya is an aquatic ecotoxicologist and teaches courses in aquatic biology, zoology, ecotoxicology, and ecology. She and her students performs whole animal studies with tadpoles and frogs to investigate how contaminant exposure influences growth, development and immune function at different life stages. Pollution and disease are two factors implicated in the loss of global amphibian populations and immunology provides a means to investigate the link between these two factors. If stressors, like contaminants, are causing adverse effects on amphibian immune function, amphibians might then be more susceptible to pathogen infection and disease. Because amphibian immune systems are similar to mammalian immune systems, this research has implications for how human health may be affected by environmental pollutants. Tawnya’s research questions target both the innate and adaptive immune function of tadpoles and frogs, and most recently she has worked with undergraduate students at Beloit College to investigate how agricultural pollutants affect levels of antimicrobial skin peptides in frogs. This has involved some creative field housing of frogs, as well as, laboratory-based exposure experiments. She greatly enjoys working closely with her students and exposing them to field work, with all its glory (read as “hot, sweaty, long days being tracked by mosquitos!”). In addition, her academic interests include investigating how students learn biology and develop a sense of identity and belonging to the scientific community. Outside of the classroom and laboratory, Tawnya enjoys anything outdoors, but especially biking, hiking and camping with her 2-year-old daughter, Vernon the beagle, and her husband.