
I am the Coburn Professor of Environmental Science at John Carroll University in Cleveland, USA. I am always interested in hearing from undergraduates enrolled at JCU or students interested in coming to JCU for their masters degree. If you are a student who wants to join the lab, please send me an email describing your academic background, work experience, and research interests to jwatling [at] jcu.edu.
In our lab, we use observational, experimental, and geospatial modeling approaches to understand how drivers of global change such as landscape modification and climate change impact species and the landscapes in which they occur. My students and I do fieldwork in the United States and South America, working with a network of graduate students and undergraduate collaborators, technicians, and researchers from the federal government. Click on the links below for more information about current research projects, courses, and more, and check out this video about recent work in the lab
Download my CV.
PhD in Biological Sciences, 2005
Florida International University
MS in Biological Sciences, 2000
Florida International University
BA in Environmental Science, 1996
Boston University
A few recent publications based on my research are highlighted in the next section (Featured Publications), followed by links to all my papers.
Research in the lab generally falls into one of two broad categories:
Research based on field, lab, and modeling work
Research based on meta-analysis and literature synthesis

In this paper we synthesize the landscape ecology literature to propose key characteristics of multifunctional landscapes that provide production value while maintaining biodiversity

Here we compile data from 35 landscapes around the world to test three specific hypotheses that provide broad suport for the habitat amount hypothesis.
2026 Valderrama Robles SC, Russell MG, Anthony CD & Watling JI. Effect of temperature acclimation period on upper thermal tolerance in a terrestrial salamander. PeerJ 14:e20775. 2025 Saboyá Acosta LP, Watling JI & Urbina-Cardona JN.
2019 Betts MG et al. Extinction filters mediate the global effects of habitat fragmentation for animals.Science 366: 1236–1239. Cameron AC, Page RB, Watling JI, Hickerson C-AH & Anthony CD. Using a comparative approach to investigate the relationship between landscape and genetic connectivity among woodland salamander populations.
2009 Watling JI, Gerow K & Donnelly MA. Isolation and nested species subsets of amphibians and reptiles on Neotropical forest islands. Animal Conservation 12: 467—476. 2008 Watling JI & Donnelly MA.
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