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Gabriel Langford, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology

George W. Truitt Chair in the Sciences

Langford

I feel that using an interactive approach allows students to start asking questions about biology instead of just memorizing scientific facts, enabling them to have a broader understanding of the subject matter. I also feel strongly that ecology and environmental studies courses should be transported into an outdoor classroom whenever possible. I believe that field-based courses are the best mechanism for teaching ecology, and in my experience students excel when presented with real-world challenges.

-Gabriel Langford

Berry Citrus Science - C305

 863.680.4318

 863.680.3970

Biography

Subjects I teach include: Biology for your Life; Environmental Science; Ecology; Honors Research in Biology; Marine Biology; Biology Fundamentals; Parasitology; Evolution. More information can be found on my lab's website: www.langfordlab.com.

What Dr. Langford enjoys most about teaching at FSC is watching students get excited when they are exposed to new organisms and/or concepts in ecology and evolution, especially when we are in the outdoor classroom. He enjoys hiking and backpacking, camping, frogging, searching for invertebrates at the beach, SCUBA and snorkeling, biking, mountain climbing, kayaking, and loves college basketball, Rock Chalk Jayhawks!

Education

  • Ph.D. Parasitology, University of Nebraska
  • M.S. Herpetology, University of South Alabama
  • B.G.S. Environmental Studies, University of Kansas

Awards

  • Ben and Janice Wade Outstanding Teaching Award - 2015
  • Florida Southern College Faculty-Student Collaborative Summer Research Grant. A Comparative Study of Locomotor Performance in Established and Invasion-Front Populations of the Cane Toad (Rhinella marina) in Central Florida. $6,000 (P.I.s Langford and Macedonia), Summer 2015
  • Florida Southern College Faculty-Student Collaborative Summer Research Grant. Unraveling a Gordian knot: Biodiversity of Gordian worms, phylum Nematomorpha, in the New World. $6,000 (P.I. Langford), Summer 2014
  • Inducted into FSC’s Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, 2014
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) – Research Opportunity Award – Collaborative Research: Unraveling a Gordian knot: Biodiversity of Gordian worms, phylum Nematomorpha, in the New World (in collaboration with Dr. Matthew Bolek, Oklahoma State University) $30,000 (Co-P.I. Langford and Bolek), 2013-2014
  • Nomination – CASE U.S. Professor of the Year Award, 2013
  • FSC Exemplary Teaching Award from the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church, 2013
  • Student-Faculty Collaborative Summer Research Grant, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL, 2012
  • University of Nebraska’s Teaching Council and Parent Association Teaching Award, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, 2009
  • Blair Paxton Udale Estate Scholarship Award, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of some North American Rhabdias spp., 2007-2008
  • David A. Becker Memorial Award for Best Oral Presentation. Annual meeting of the Southwestern Association of Parasitologists, Lake Texoma, OK, 2006
  • National Estuarine Research Reserve Fellowship-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Parasite biodiversity of amphibians and reptiles at the Grand Bay NERR, Mississippi. 2006-2009
  • Mobile Bay National Estuarine Program Grant. Effects of Forest Management Edges on Amphibian/Reptile Assemblages and Toxicant Loading in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta (Baldwin Co., AL). 2004-2005

Publications

Langford, G.J., and J. Janovy, Jr. 2016. Ecological factors responsible for the geographic distribution of Rhabdias joaquinensis: where do lungworms infect anurans in nature? Parasitology Research 115: 1305-13.

J. A. Andrews*, J.N. Childress*, T.J. Iakovidis*, and G.J. Langford. 2015. Elucidating the life cycle and life history of a rare parasitic oligochaete, Dero hylae (Naididae), from Florida tree frogs. 101(3):275-281 Journal of Parasitology. *Undergraduate student

Langford, G.J.*, J.M. Macedonia*, C.W. Bessette*, J.L. Matey*, B.A. Raboin*, A.E. Schiffmacher*, and B.J. Reynolds*. 2014. Experimentally-induced phenotypic plasticity in hindlimb growth of Anolis sagrei and its impacts on perch diameter choice in an experimental enclosure. Journal of Herpetology. ^Co-authors, *Undergraduate student

Langford, G.J., M.S. Vhora*, M.G. Bolek, and J. Janovy, Jr. 2013. Co-occurrence of Haematoloechus complexus and Rhabdias joaquinensis in the Plains Leopard Frog from Nebraska. Journal of Parasitology. *Undergraduate student

Langford, G.J., B.A. Willobee*, and L.F. Isidoro*. 2013. Transmission, host specificity, and seasonal occurrence of Cyrtosomum penneri (Nematoda: Atractidae) in lizards from Florida. Journal of Parasitology. *Undergraduate student

Langford, G.J., and J. Janovy, Jr. 2013 Host specificity of North American Rhabdias spp. (Nematoda: Rhabdiasisae): Combining field data and experimental infections with a molecular phylogeny. Journal of Parasitology.

Langford, G.J., and J.C. Bruno*. 2011. Siren lacertina (Greater Siren) Diet. Herpetological Review 42:256. *Undergraduate author

Langford, G.J., and J. Janovy, Jr. 2010. Heterodon nasicus (Western Hog-nosed Snake). Diet and arboreal foraging behavior. Herpetological Review 42:291.

Langford, G.J., and J. Janovy, Jr. 2009. Comparative life cycles and life histories of North American Rhabdias spp. (Nematoda: Rhabdiasidae): lungworms of frogs and snakes. Journal of Parasitology 95: 1145-1155.

Nelson, D.H., G.J. Langford^, J.A. Borden, and W.M. Turner. 2009. Reproductive, Nesting, and Hatchling Ecology of the Alabama Red-bellied Cooter, Pseudemys alabamensis Baur. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 8:66-73. ^corresponding author

Borden, J.A. and G.J. Langford. 2008. A Simple Pitfall Trap for Sampling Nesting Diamondback Terrapins. Herpetological Review 39:188-190.

Janovy, J. Jr., J. Detwiler, S. Schwank, M.G. Bolek, A.K. Knipes, and G.J. Langford. 2007. New and Emended Descriptions of Gregarines from Flour Beetles (Tribolium spp. and Palorus subdepressus: Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae). Journal of Parasitology 93:1155-1170.

Langford, G.J., J.A. Borden, C.S. Major, and D.H. Nelson. 2007. Effects of Prescribed Fire on the Herpetofauna of a Southern Mississippi Pine Savanna. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 2:135-144.

Janovy, J. Jr., M.G. Bolek, J. Detwiler, S. Schwank, A. Knipes, and G.J. Langford. 2007. Gregarina niphandrodes (Eugregarinorida: Septatorina): Oocyst Surface Architecture. Journal of Parasitology 93:714-16.

Projects

My research focuses on the ecology and evolution of parasite life histories, and I have an interest in amphibian and reptile conservation. My research primarily occurs in and around aquatic habitats, where my students and I get wet and muddy collecting a variety of organisms! My parasitological research utilizes amphibians and reptiles as model systems to investigate issues of parasite community structure, host specificity, life cycle evolution, and biodiversity. My conservation research focuses on the population ecology of freshwater turtles in central Florida. I also have an interest in ecotoxicology and invertebrate zoology (especially spiders).