Curriculum vitae

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University
jack.phillips12314@gmail.com

Education

PhD, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology · Cornell University · 2024 to expected 2026
Advisor: Molly C. Womack. Expected defense December 2026.

PhD student, Ecology / Biology · Utah State University · 2020 to 2024
Advisor: Molly C. Womack.

MS, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology · University of Connecticut · 2017 to 2019
Thesis: The biomechanics and evolution of air breathing in tadpoles. Advisor: Kurt Schwenk.

BS, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology · University of Connecticut · 2013 to 2017
Honors, cum laude. Honors thesis: The functional morphology of air breathing in larval anurans.

Research interests

Development and the role of metamorphosis in decoupling larval and adult evolution
Macroevolutionary patterns of trait loss and re-gain
Vertebrate and tetrapod evolution and origins
Tadpole air-breathing biomechanics, functional morphology and evolution

Publications

*undergraduate mentee ‡first authorship equally shared

Peer-reviewed

Phillips, JR, PH Dias, and MC Womack (2025). Lungless tadpoles breathe fresh air into hypotheses for tetrapod lung loss and trait regains. Evolution 79(12), 2776-2790. Covered by Cornell Chronicle, AOL, Wild Science, phys.org
Kaczmarek, EB, JR Phillips, and WG Ryerson (2025). Respiratory system. In: Comparative vertebrate and human anatomy: ecology, evolution, and function.
Ngwenya, SS*, GK Nicolau*, MC Womack, and JR Phillips (2025). Range extension: Schismaderma carens. African Herp News.
Dias, PH‡, JR Phillips‡, MO Pereyra, B Means, and PJ Kok (2024). The remarkable larval morphology of Rhaebo nasicus (Werner, 1903) with the erection of a new bufonid genus and insights into the evolution of suctorial tadpoles. Zoological Letters 10(1).
Phillips, JR, GK Nicolau*, SS Ngwenya*, EJ Jackson*, and MC Womack (2024). The effects of habitat and respiratory strategy on hypoxia performance in anuran tadpoles. Integrative and Comparative Biology 64(2), 336-353.
Womack, MC, SM Strobel, JR Phillips, JS Parreiras, VT Vredenburg, and MH Wake (2024). Organisms have gravity. Journal of Experimental Biology 227(12).
Phillips, JR, J Reissig, and GK Nicolau* (2023). Notes on lung development in South African Ghost frogs (Anura: Heleophrynidae). African Journal of Herpetology 72(1), 81-90.
Annibale, FS, RJ Wassersug, Y Zeng, AF Sabbag, CA Brasileiro, DC Rossa-Feres, F Nomura, and JR Phillips (2023). The case for studying tadpole autecology, with comments on strategies to study other small, fast-moving animals in nature. Austral Ecology 48(5), 855-876.
Phillips, JR, AE Hewes, MC Womack, and K Schwenk (2022). The mechanics of air-breathing in tadpoles of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis (Anura: Pipidae). Journal of Experimental Biology 225(10).
Schwenk, K‡ and JR Phillips‡ (2020). Circumventing surface tension: a novel form of air-breathing in anuran tadpoles. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287(1921). Covered by UConn Today, New Scientist, FYFD, Popular Science, The Scientist
Phillips, JR, A Hewes, and K Schwenk (2020). The mechanics of air-breathing in gray tree frog tadpoles, Hyla versicolor Leconte, 1825 (Anura: Hylidae). Journal of Experimental Biology 223(5).
Everitt, B and JR Phillips (2019). Natural History Note: Death feigning in Nerodia erythrogaster and N. fasciata. Herpetological Review 50(3).

Book reviews

Phillips, JR (2025). Review of Frog Day: a story of 24 hours and 24 amphibian lives. Herpetological Review 56(1).
Phillips, JR (2022). Review of Conservation of amphibians and reptiles in Connecticut. Ichthyology and Herpetology 110(3), 633-634.

In review and in preparation

Phillips, JR and MC Womack (in review). Bubbleguts: re-evolution of air breathing in a lungless tadpole. Ecology.
Phillips, JR and MC Womack (complete draft). The importance of considering both ecological and developmental coupling across life stages.
Phillips, JR, PH Dias, S Harrington, and D Paluh (complete draft). The loss and regain of larval tooth structures in anuran tadpoles.
Phillips, JR, D Paluh, PH Dias, P Lukas, S Paynter-Tavares*, and MC Womack (in prep). Two-faced frogs: larval habitat dominates shape evolution in tadpole skulls.
Phillips, JR, Mayerl, Keefe, and EB Kaczmarek (in prep). Re-assessing anuran ventilation mechanics using high-speed x-ray videography.

Presentations

Invited talks

2024 World Congress of Herpetology, Kuching, Malaysia. An extravagance of breathing modes in anuran tadpoles. In the “Amazing world of tadpoles” symposium.

2024 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ann Arbor, MI. Use it or lose it: implications of activity dependence on dynamics of trait loss. In the “Endless herps most beautiful” symposium.

2024 II International Symposium for Tadpole Evolution. Losses and regains of lung function in frog tadpoles. 30-minute invited lecture.

2023 Brown University, functional morphology group. Losses and regains of lung function in frog tadpoles.

2020 Gamboa “frog talk” series. Bubble-sucking tadpoles: physical constraints allow tadpoles to reach new adaptive space. 30-minute invited lecture.

Contributed

*student prize awarded

2026 Evolution Meeting, Cleveland, OH
2026 SICB, Portland, OR
2025 Cornell EEB Research Symposium*
2025 JMIH, St. Paul, MN
2024 Cornell EEB Research Symposium*
2023 Evolution Meeting, Albuquerque, NM
2023 Herpetological Association of Africa, Mpumalanga, South Africa
2022 JMIH, Spokane, WA
2021 Evolution Meeting, online
2020 First International Symposium for Tadpole Evolution*
2020 SICB, Austin, TX*
2019 SICB Northeast DVM, Boston College
2019 HAA, Eastern Cape, South Africa*
2019 JMIH, Snowbird, UT
2018 SICB Northeast DVM, Brown University
2018 JMIH, Rochester, NY
2017 SICB Northeast DVM, UMass Lowell

Honors and awards

2026 College of Arts and Sciences Russell Family Teaching Award, Cornell
2025 Whittaker Award, best graduate student presentation, Cornell EEB Research Symposium
2024 Whittaker Award, best graduate student presentation, Cornell EEB Research Symposium
2020 Best Oral Presentation (tied), First International Tadpole Evolution Symposium
2020 Dwight D. Davis Award for Best Oral Presentation, DVM, SICB
2019 Best Student Presentation, Herpetological Association of Africa
2019 Honorable Mention, SSAR Seibert Award for Morphology and Physiology, JMIH
2019 Honorable Mention, UConn EEB Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Award
2017 Honorable Mention, UConn EEB Undergraduate Research Symposium

Grants

2024 Utah State BGSA Student Travel Award, $1,000
2022 Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research, $1,000
2022 Utah State Ecology Center Graduate Award, $5,000
2022 Utah State Biology Del Grosso Award, $5,000
2021 Utah State Biology Ecology Graduate Award, $5,000
2019 Carl Gans Foundation Travel Award, $1,000
2018 UConn EEB Biology Graduate Research Award in Zoology, $300

Teaching

Primary instructor of record

2024 Organismal Biology Lab, Utah State University
2018 Field Herpetology (summer session), University of Connecticut

Teaching assistant

2026 Biology of the Vertebrates, Cornell (lead TA)
2025 Herpetology, Cornell (took over full course instruction midway through the semester)
2024 Introduction to Evolutionary Biology, Cornell
2022-23 Human Physiology lab, Utah State (online)
2020-21 Introductory Biology I and II, Utah State (online)
2019 Herpetology, UConn
2018 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, UConn
2018 General Ecology, UConn
2017 Mammalogy, UConn

Guest lectures in Biology of the Vertebrates (Cornell, 2025), Herpetology (Cornell, 2025), and Herpetology (UConn, 2019). Original teaching materials were created for several of these courses and are available on request.

Undergraduate mentorship

Cornell University, 2024 to present
Saty Paynter-Tavares, Emma Lynn Poplyk, Chloe Adaggio, Justine Watkins

Utah State University, 2020 to 2024
Sifiso Shane Ngwenya (now pursuing a master’s degree in South Africa), Gary Kyle
Nicolau (now pursuing a PhD in South Africa), Emily Anne Jackson (now working in
environmental assessment across Africa)

University of Connecticut, 2016 to 2019
Amanda Hewes (now a visiting professor at Colorado College), Jaimie Simmons,
Emilee Wooldridge, Andre Jang, Elle Parks, Gabrielle Fabian

Several of these students have co-authored publications or presented posters at scientific conferences under my mentorship.

Service

Advisory board member, Tompkins County Amphibian Patrol, 2024 to present
Co-founder, African Herpetological and Biodiversity Institute, a non-profit dedicated to advancing scientific opportunities for African-born herpetologists and naturalists
Cornell Graduate Recruitment Committee, 2024 to 2025
Co-organized the symposium on tadpole diversity, 2024 World Congress of Herpetology
Committee member, II International Symposium for Tadpole Evolution
Student representative, Utah State graduate programs committee, 2022 to 2023
Elected Academic Chair, Utah State Biology Graduate Student Association, 2022 to 2023
Ran the herpetology portion of the CT Science Olympiad, 2018
Mammalogy team, 2017 CT BioBlitz
Invited speaker, CT Cub Scouts and The Children’s Museum, West Hartford, CT

Peer review

Integrative and Comparative Biology · Biological Journal of the Linnean Society · PNAS (co-review) · PeerJ · Anatomical Record · Journal of Experimental Biology · Herpetological Review · African Herp News · African Zoology · Asian Herpetology Research

Society membership

SICB (2018 to present) · SSAR (2018 to present) · Herpetological Association of Africa (2019 to present) · SSE (2021 to present)

Photography

2026 Cornell EEB Photo Contest, winner
2017 UConn EEB Photo Contest, winner

Journal covers: Oikos (January 2025), Integrative and Comparative Biology (August 2024).

References

Dr. Molly Womack, PhD advisor · mcwomack@cornell.edu
Dr. Kurt Schwenk, MSc and undergraduate honors thesis advisor · kurt.schwenk@uconn.edu