Dr. Timothy Matson

Curator and Head of Vertebrate Zoology
e-mail: tmatson@cmnh.org
phone: (216) 231-4600, ext. 3247

A.S., natural science, Delta College
B.S., biology, Central Michigan University
M.S., biology, Central Michigan University
Ph.D., ecology, Kent State University

Recipient of the Museum’s Jared Potter Kirtland Award for outstanding achievement in a field of natural science; Mentor Marsh Board of Management; Advisory Council member, Ohio Biological Survey; member, Midwest Central Division of the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force.

Areas of specialization or interest:

Reptiles and amphibians of Ohio, particularly amphibian ecology and distribution; effects of sea lamprey control measures on non-targeted species, especially the mudpuppy ; gray treefrog ecology, distribution, and evolution; ambystomatid salamander population dynamics.

Current research:

Analyzing data from a long-term population dynamics study of amybstomatid salamanders in a northeast Ohio breeding pond. Studying amphibian colonization and the success of transplanting amphibian eggs into wetlands created with mitigation funds at Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve. Analyzing data from a taxonomic study of larvae of closely related salamanders, genus Ambystoma, occurring at Mentor Marsh with the goal of isolating characters that promote accurate differentiation. Conducting a study of metal toxicity on embryo and larval Jefferson Salamanders, Ambystoma jeffersonianum, and Wood Frogs, Litobates sylvaticus, at 30 ponds in northeastern Ohio. Surveying and inventorying fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and crayfishes of the Ashtabula River and Pymatuning Creek drainage systems. Studying the occurrence of the parasitic copepod Lernea cyprinus upon tadpoles of the bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus, in northeast streams.