​Profile: Cecilia Trani Launches a Cross-Continental Parasite Sleuthing Mission to Map the Parasitic Helminths of Atlantic Forest Felids

When parasite biologist Cecilia Trani stands beside a muddy highway in Misiones, the body of every cat she recovers—whether a jaguar, ocelot, or neighborhood pet—becomes a clue to the hidden web of helminths linking the Atlantic Forest with our own backyards. This year she is transforming those clues into a cross-continental campaign that unites Argentina’s Subtropical Biology Institute, Brown University, and a grassroots network of rangers and veterinarians. The whole region is watching 🤩​

Cecilia Trani supervising the capture and handling of a coati for parasite surveillance at HelmCamp in Argentina

Inside a Year of Conservation at the Kartzinel Lab

Conservation science is changing fast—but the realities of how our work gets done are rarely shared. To mark the end of 2025, the Kartzinel Lab published its first Annual Report to openly document what it takes to connect modern genomic tools with the front lines of conservation: crossing landscapes, institutions, and communities amid growing uncertainty for scientific research.

From Data to Decisions: A Theory of Change for Conservation Science

Conservation science is often judged by its outputs—papers published, datasets generated, tools released. But conservation outcomes are not produced by academic activity alone. They emerge from a longer causal chain of events that connect research with real-world decisions about how we engage with the natural world. ​ This post outlines how we think about this chain of events: how conservation-minded biological research can translate, over time, into meaningful conservation impacts.

Kartzinel Lab Postdoc Ezequiel Vanderhoeven, DVM, Ph.D. (left), works with a non-profit to facilitate a jaguar capture / translocation in Argentina. Photo: Proyecto Yaguareté

Alumni Spotlight: Bethan Littleford-Colquhoun

The stuff of legends. That's the only way to describe Bethan Littleford-Colquhoun's legacy as a postdoc in the Kartzinel Lab. Beth joined the lab and the National Park Service in amplifying our collaboration at Yellowstone with the launch of our first NSF awards for the project. Author of several news-making and mind-changing publications, recipient of Brown University's Postdoctoral Excellence Award, mentor and teacher to countless students in the program, and now a fully independent faculty member at the University of Bath in the UK. You will hardly believe the scope of the impact she had on our program and the field writ large... Faculty website: University of Bath In the news: Researchers propose new model for herbivore diets in Yellowstone National Park Post from the lab: Beth wins 2023 Postdoctoral Excellence Award

Reconstructing 10,000 Years of Caribou Diets from Melting Yukon Ice Patches

Dr. Carson Hedberg and team on an expedition to the Gladstone Ice Patch

A prestigious NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Office of Polar Programs that was awarded to Carson Hedberg is powering a new Kartzinel Lab project in the Yukon: using ancient DNA preserved in towering alpine ice patches to reconstruct thousands of years of change in caribou diets since the end of the last Ice Age. By sequencing genetic traces of food that have been locked inside caribou dung and literally frozen in time, Carson is asking how these animals have weathered past climate shifts—and what this can tell us about prospects for their future.

Metabarcoding vs Microhistology: Comparing Dietary Analysis Methods

Tyler Kartzinel

Originally posted 1/6/2026.

At First Bite: Why Do Animal Diets Matter?

Understanding what animals eat is central to ecology, evolution, and conservation. Diets shape species interaction networks, how energy flows through food webs, and what animals can do when environments change. For decades, ecologists have inspected animal scats using microscopes to identify what they have been eating. Today, DNA-based approaches offer a powerful alternative. So how do these two methods stack up—and when should you use each?

Savanna elephant eating from the understory at Mpala Research Centre in Kenya. Photo credit: Tyler Kartzinel

Do undergraduate research in the Kartzinel Lab at Brown

Wildlife Molecular Parasitology: From Taxonomy to DNA in Costa Rica @HelmCamp2026

Students of HelmCamp learn to analyze DNA from wildlife parasites

Field ecologists and conservation biologists increasingly rely on molecular tools to understand the hidden dynamics of wildlife health and biodiversity. Our lab is pioneering the next generation of strategies in Molecular Parasitology. In 2026, we are pleased to be co-presenting a unique opportunity to gain these skills through the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) in Costa Rica. This will be the second installment of our "HelmCamp" field course: Wildlife Molecular Parasitology: Taxonomy to DNA.

Study: New England is key to survival of diamondback terrapins

First large-scale genetic study of diamondback terrapins across their northern range highlights urgent conservation needs as federal endangered species listing is considered.

Diamondback terrapin. Photo: Amanda Lyons

Story behind the science: Yellowstone wildlife diets

Rethinking how we classify animals based on what they eat—and what it means for wildlife management

Hannah Hoff awarded Blavatnik Family Graduate Fellowship

Outstanding scholarship & innovation in the life sciences. Hannah Hoff, PhD candidate in the lab, has accepted a Blavatnik Family Graduate Fellowship in Biology & Medicine at Brown University. This is a highly competitive and well-deserved honor. Hannah has helped lead our work in Yellowstone National Park since 2021.

Research highlight: Apportionment of Dietary Diversity in Wildlife published in PNAS (Hannah Hoff et al.)

Interview: DNA barcoding and conservation (Mongabay)

DNA sequencing to meet global biodiversity goals: Interview with Tyler Kartzinel

Research highlight: what parasites infect tropical wildlife?

Research highlight: gastrointestinal parasites of Costa Rican sloths (Ezequiel Vanderhoeven et al.)

Feature: Montana Stone’s award‑winning photo

Zorro by Montana Stone

The magazine Medicine@Brown featured Montana Stone's award-winning photo of "Zorro" -- a culpeo fox -- taken at our long-term ecological research site in Fray Jorge National Park in Chile.

Research highlight: giraffe diets and microbiomes (Videvall et al.)

Profile: Bethan Littleford-Colquhoun postdoc takes Prize Fellowship to launch a new lab

Research highlight: paper in Journal of Experimental Biology (Courtney Reed et al.)

Story behind the science: Field training with Save the Elephants

Research highlight: what fuels wildlife migrations across Yellowstone?

Research highlight: Study on structural and functional variation in host-microbiome interactions published in Ecosphere (Bianca Brown et al.)

Profile: Anna Jackson, Lab Manager

Anna Jackson with a spotted ground squirrel, the subject of her conservation genomics MSc thesis

The lab has been most fortunate to follow the leadership of Anna Jackson, who has been our Lab Manager since early 2024. ​Anna brings years of experience in molecular ecology across multiple institutions together with teaching and leadership experience through her MSc work and service in the Peace Corps. Anna was selected from an internationally competitive application pool and we look forward to enjoying a very productive and rewarding collaboration with her over the long term. Anna's leadership is integral to the success of all of our work, and she has been particularly active in projects based at Yellowstone National Park, Fray Jorge National Park, and the development of our program in Molecular Parasitology. You can find a free list of essential Lab Protocols that Anna curates for our site, Contract with Anna for your next project, or Train with her in the lab either on campus at Brown or through one of our international workshops like HelmCamp 2026!