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Ralph A. Saporito, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology Graduate Program Director Department of Biology John Carroll University Office: Dolan W211 Labs: Dolan W108 & W110 Frog Room: W219-B Ph: 216.397.4492 E-mail: [email protected] |
Graduate Students
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Erica Berent |
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Sam Hinkley |
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Erica graduated with a B.A. in Biology from the College of Wooster in 2021. She began the M.S. program at John Carroll in Fall 2023, and is studying maternal provisioning of alkaloid defenses in the strawberry poison frog, Oophaga pumilio, from Bocas del Toro, Panama.
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Sam graduated with a B.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University in 2020. He began the M.S. program at John Carroll in Fall 2024 and has broad interests surrounding the function and physiology of chemical defenses in dendrobatid poison frogs. His thesis research will aim to study the physiological effects of alkaloid sequestration in the green and black poison frog, Dendrobates auratus, in Costa Rica.
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Undergraduate Students
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Grace Burkin |
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Aaron Fernando |
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Grace is a senior Biology major at JCU, and she joined the lab in Fall 2023. She was awarded a 2024 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) from JCU, and spent 1.5 months in Costa Rica with lab mate Jason Freisen studying poison frogs. In particular, they studied the physiological effects of alkaloid sequestration and the links between coloration and stamina in the strawberry poison frog, Oophaga pumilio. Grace has also been in charge of caring for the live poison frog colony in the Saporito Lab.
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Aaron is a senior Biology major at JCU and joined the lab in Spring 2023. He was awarded a 2023 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) from JCU, and has been studying alkaloids and coloration in the green and black poison frog, Dendrobates auratus, from Costa Rica.
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Jason FreisenJason is a senior Biology major at JCU and joined the lab in Fall 2023. He was awarded a 2024 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) from JCU, and spent 1.5 months in Costa Rica with lab mate Grace Burkin studying poison frogs. In particular, they studied the physiological effects of alkaloid sequestration and the link between coloration and stamina in the strawberry poison frog, Oophaga pumilio. Jason is now working on an NSF-funded project on tricyclic alkaloid sequestration in poison frogs.
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Marko BabicMarko is a senior Biology major at JCU and joined the lab in Spring 2024. In Fall 2024 and Spring 2025, he received a Colleran-Weaver Fellowship and is studying maternal provisioning of alkaloids in the Panamanian poison frog, Oophaga vicentei.
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Ashley BurrisAshley is a sophomore chemistry major at JCU and joined the lab in Fall 2024. She will be working with graduate student Erica Berent to study maternal alkaloid provisioning in the poison frog Oophaga pumilio from Panama.
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Isabella SchusterIsabella is a sophomore biology major at JCU and joined the lab in Fall 2024. She will be assisting with care for the live frog colony in the Saporito Lab.
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Kevin Kotyk |
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Mara Sidloski |
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Kevin is a freshman biology major at JCU and joined the lab in Fall 2024. He has recently begun a project to study microbial inhibition of tricyclic alkaloids. He is also in charge of caring for the live poison frog colony in the Saporito Lab.
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Mara is a sophomore biology major at JCU who joined the lab in Spring 2025. She recently received a Debra Pawl Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and will be traveling to Costa Rica in Summer 2025 to study the physiological effects of alkaloid sequestration in the strawberry poison frog, Oophaga pumilio.
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Maximo SferraMax is a sophomore biology major at JCU and joined the lab in Spring 2025. He recently received a Debra Pawl Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and will be traveling to Costa Rica in Summer 2025 to study the physiological effects of alkaloid sequestration in the green and black poison frog, Dendrobates auratus.
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Visiting Researchers
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Arianna Tartara |
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Arianna is a visiting Ph.D. student from the Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. Arianna is studying alkaloid defenses in several species of Ecuadorian poison frogs as part of a large DFG-supported Reassembly project.
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