Rudolf von May, PhD
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. Additionally, some of my projects and collaborations focus on other organisms and ecosystems in California. I teach Ecology and the Environment, Statistics for Biologists, and Senior Capstone in Biology, and I am developing new projects with participation of undergraduate students enrolled in Independent Research. Email: rudolf.vonmay at csuci.edu
Google Scholar | ResearchGate | Field Research Videos
Featured publications
Catenazzi A, von May R (eds.) (2021) Systematics and Conservation of Neotropical Amphibians and Reptiles. MDPI. Basel, Switzerland. 552 pp. ISBN 978-3-0365-0634-0 [co-edited book]
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 [News 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 [News coverage: CBS News, 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 [News coverage: National Geographic]
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 [News coverage: Michigan News, Science Daily, National Science Foundation]
