Faculty and Staff
Dr. Sarah Woodley
Associate Professor
Postdoctoral Fellow, Boston University, 2003
Ph.D., Arizona State University, 1999
M.S., University of Chicago, 1992
B.S., B.A., Indiana University, 1989
Office phone: 412.396.6320
Email: woodleys@duq.edu
Effects of Environmental Stressors on Amphibian Reproduction and Health; Neuroendocrinology of Chemical Communication
Project 1: Impact of Environmental Degradation on Amphibian Health and Reproduction
Environmental contaminants such as the herbicide atrazine, acid mine drainage, and natural gas extraction are potential stressors that disrupt physiological processes and behaviors essential to survival and reproduction. I am examining the effects of environmental stressors on amphibian physiology and behavior. This work involves characterizing basic amphibian stress physiology in response to both natural and manmade stressors, in the field and the laboratory.
Project 2: Sex Differences in Chemical Communication
Sex differences in the nervous system are correlated with sex differences in behavior, physiology, and disease. Many structures of the nervous system exhibit sex differences in size, 
but it is still unclear as to how a difference in neural structure translates into a difference in functionality. My research seeks to understand the function and physiological regulation of sexual dimorphism in the size of a sensory neuroepithelium. My model is the sexually dimorphic vomeronasal organ in plethodontid salamanders. In this family of salamanders, the vomeronasal organ (a chemosensory neuroepithelium) is twice as big in males as in females, both in absolute size and relative to body size. The simple structure of the neuroepithelium makes it ideal for studies of structure-function relationships. My research integrates behavioral, physiological, neuroendocrine, and molecular approaches.
Woodley Publications since 2006
Wack, C.L., Ratay, M.K.**, and S.K. Woodley, in preparation for submission to Herpetologica. The role of corticosterone in mediating acute changes in locomotory activity in the red-legged salamander, Plethodon shermani. ** undergraduate co-author
Bliley, J.M.** and S.K. Woodley*. Submitted to Physiology and Behavior. The effects of repeated handling and treatment with corticosterone on behavior in an amphibian (Ocoee salamander: Desmognathus ocoee). ** undergraduate co-author
Wack, C.L.*, S.E DuRant, W.A. Hopkins, M.B. Lovern, R.C. Feldhoff, and S. K. Woodley. Accepted pending minor revisions. Elevation of plasma corticosterone to physiologically relevant levels increased metabolic rate in a terrestrial salamander. Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry.
Kiemnec-Tyburczy K.M.*, S. K. Woodley, R.A. Watts, S.J. Arnold and L. D. Houck. Accepted pending minor revisions. Expression of vomeronasal receptors and related signaling molecules in the nasal cavity of a caudate amphibian (Plethodon shermani). Chemical Senses.
Kiemnec-Tyburczy*, K. M., S. K. Woodley, P. W. Feldhoff, R. C. Feldhoff and L. D. Houck. 2011. Ancestral mode of courtship pheromone delivery does not increase receptivity in female red-legged salamanders, Plethodon shermani. J. of Herpetology 45: 169-173.
Woodley*, S. K. 2010. Hormones and Reproductive Behaviors in Amphibians In Hormones and Reproduction in Vertebrates, Volume 2: Amphibia (D.O Norris, K.H. Lopez, Eds.), pp. 143-169, Academic Press, invited review chapter.
Wack*, C.L., M.B. Lovern, and S.K. Woodley. 2010. Transdermal delivery of corticosterone in terrestrial amphibians. General and Comparative Endocrinology 169: 269-275.
Woodley*, S. K., and E. L. Lacy. 2010. An acute stressor alters steroid hormone levels, activity, but not sexual behavior in male and female mountain dusky salamanders (Desmognathus ocoee). Hormones and Behavior 58:427-432.
Woodley*, S. K., 2010. Pheromonal Communication in Amphibians. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural and Behavioral Physiology 196:713-727. Invited review paper.
Ricciardella, L. F., J.M. Bliley**, C.C. Feth** and S. K. Woodley*. 2010. Acute stressors increase plasma corticosterone and decrease activity in a terrestrial salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus), Physiology and Behavior 101:81-86. ** undergraduate co-authors
Schubert, S. N., , C.L. Wack, L. D. Houck, P. W. Feldhoff, R. C. Feldhoff, and S. K. Woodley*. 2009. Exposure to pheromones increases plasma corticosterone concentrations in a terrestrial salamander. General and Comparative Endocrinology 161:271-275.
Largen W.** and S. K. Woodley*. 2008. Cutaneous tail glands, noxious skin secretions, and scent marking in a terrestrial salamander (Plethodon shermani). Herpetologica 63:270-280. ** undergraduate co-author,
Schubert, S. N., L. D. Houck, P. W. Feldhoff, R. C. Feldhoff, and S. K. Woodley*. 2008. Effects of sex on chemosensory communication in a terrestrial salamander (Plethodon shermani). Hormones and Behavior 54:270-277.
Benner, S. L**., and S. K. Woodley*. 2007. The reproductive pattern of male Desmognathine salamanders (Family Plethodontidae) is neither associated nor dissociated. Hormones and Behavior 51:542-547. ** undergraduate co-author, cover article
Woodley*, S. K. 2007. Sex steroid hormones and sexual dimorphism of chemosensory structures in a terrestrial salamander (Plethodon shermani). Brain Research 1138: 95-103. .
Schubert, S. N., L. D. Houck, P. W. Feldhoff, R. C. Feldhoff, and S. K. Woodley*. 2006. Effects of androgens on behavioral and vomeronasal responses to chemosensory cues in male terrestrial salamanders (Plethodon shermani). Hormones and Behavior 50: 469-476.
