Rudolf von May, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor | Biology Program
California State University Channel Islands
Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor of Biology at CSU Channel Islands. I am broadly interested in ecology, evolution, and conservation of biodiversity. My research focuses on ecology and diversity of amphibians and reptiles, with a main emphasis in the Andes-Amazon region. I am especially interested in understanding the links between species’ distributions and their thermal ecology, morphology, and evolutionary history. Recent projects also focus on other organisms and ecosystems in California. Email: rudolf.vonmay at csuci.edu
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Featured publications
Luedtke JA, Chanson J, Neam K, Hobin L, Maciel AO, Catenazzi A, […], von May R, et al. (2023) Ongoing declines for the world’s amphibians in the face of emerging threats. Nature 622: 308-314 [Media coverage: Washington Post | ABC News | NBC News | NPR | Reuters | Smithsonian Magazine | USA Today | KCLU – NPR ]
Lötters S, Plewnia A, Catenazzi A, Neam K, […], von May R, Webster Bernal JF, La Marca E (2023) Ongoing harlequin toad declines suggest the amphibian extinction crisis is still an emergency. Communications Earth & Environment 4: 412.
Pitman NCA, Vriesendorp CF, Alvira Reyes D, Moskovits DK, […], von May R, et al. (2021) Applied science facilitates the large-scale expansion of protected areas in an Amazonian hotspot. Science Advances 7(31): eabe2998 [Media Coverage: Mongabay | Channel Magazine ]
von May R, Catenazzi A, Santa-Cruz R, Gutierrez A, Moritz C, Rabosky DL (2019) Thermal physiological traits in tropical lowland amphibians: vulnerability to climate warming and cooling. PLOS ONE 14(8): e0219759 [Media coverage: UVM Field Herpetology | El Comercio ]
von May R, Biggi E, Cárdenas H, Diaz MI, Alarcón C, Herrera V, Santa-Cruz R, Tomasinelli F, Westeen E, Sánchez-Paredes CM, Larson JG, Title PO, Grundler MR, Grundler MC, Davis Rabosky AR, Rabosky DL (2019) Ecological interactions between arthropods and small vertebrates in a lowland Amazon rainforest. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13(1): 65–77 [Media coverage: CBS News | CNN | HuffPost | National Geographic]
von May R, Lehr E, Rabosky, DL (2018) Evolutionary radiation of earless frogs in the Andes: molecular phylogenetics and habitat shifts in high-elevation terrestrial breeding frogs. PeerJ 6:e4331
von May R, Catenazzi A, Santa-Cruz R, Kosch TA, Vredenburg VT (2018) Microhabitat temperatures and prevalence of the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in lowland Amazonian frogs. Tropical Conservation Science 11: 1–13
Jacobs JM, von May R, Kavanaugh DH, Connor EF (2018) Beetles in bamboo forests: community structure in a heterogeneous landscape of southwestern Amazonia. PeerJ 6:e5153
von May R, Catenazzi A, Corl A, Santa-Cruz R, Carnaval AC, Moritz C (2017) Divergence of thermal physiological traits in terrestrial breeding frogs along a tropical elevational gradient. Ecology and Evolution 7: 3257–67 [Media coverage: Michigan News, Science Daily, National Science Foundation]
