Tracy Langkilde

Tracy Langkilde is the Interim Executive Vice President and Provost at Pennsylvania State University and a Professor of Biology in the Department of Biology, housed within the Eberly College of Science. She leads the Langkilde Lab, focusing on ecology and evolutionary biology, particularly how organisms adapt to global environmental changes. Her research integrates behavioral observations, endocrine assays, and molecular approaches, with a focus on reptiles and amphibians. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney (2005) and a B.S. from James Cook University (1999), followed by postdoctoral training at Yale University.

Her lab’s research explores how traits adapt to environmental pressures, with implications for community dynamics and species resilience. Key areas include ecoimmunology, invasive species impacts, and maternal effects on offspring. Langkilde has received the George Mercer Award (2011) and the Distinguished Herpetologist Award (2019). She has advised numerous graduate students, including Braulio Assis, Cameron Venable, and David Ensminger, who have contributed to groundbreaking studies on topics like maternal stress effects and lizard gut microbiota.

Her work has been published in journals such as Biological Invasions, Frontiers in Endocrinology, and Molecular Ecology. The lab also emphasizes outreach, with members engaging in projects like the NSF-funded study on maternal stress and telomere lengths. Langkilde currently serves as Verne M. Willaman Dean of the Eberly College of Science, overseeing interdisciplinary research initiatives.