Dr. Jennifer Houtz has had a passion for ornithology since she started college, and it is taking flight now as her research makes its way into national publications, including the New York Times, Newsweek, and Nature Research Highlights.
Houtz, an assistant professor of biology at Allegheny College, co-authored a paper, “The Evolution of Using Shed Snake Skin in Bird Nests,” with Dr. Vanya Rohwer of Cornell University and other colleagues. The paper first appeared earlier this year (2025) in The American Naturalist. Its scientific contents drew the interest of the national media, and has been featured in several articles appearing in major news outlets, bringing the paper’s findings to average readers, including bird watchers across the country.
I feel grateful to have been involved in the collaboration with Dr. Rohwer, who spearheaded the project,” says Houtz, who has taught at Allegheny since 2023. “It shows that collaboration of multiple scientists with different expertise can lead to integrative projects like this one that are of broad appeal to readers. It feels amazing that this project is receiving national coverage because it means our findings are making their way to a broader audience.
Houtz collaborated with Rohwer, who is the curator of birds and mammals at the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates, which is housed within the Cornell Lab of Ornithology where Houtz did her doctoral work. Rohwer was looking for someone who specializes in avian microbiomes to collaborate on this project because one of the hypotheses for why birds use snake skin in their nests is potentially to reduce pathogenic bacteria in the nesting material with the antimicrobial properties of the skin, says Houtz.
“Most likely, birds opportunistically collect shed snake skins that they find in the wild. Some of the most common snakes in Western Pennsylvania are the Eastern rat snake, Eastern garter snake, and Eastern milksnake. We still have not tested whether birds prefer one species of snake skin over another,” says Houtz. “If they do, preference could be related to abundance of each snake species, the size of the skin, and/or chemical cues from the skin sensed by the bird. Some birds that have been reported to use snake skins that can be found in Western Pennsylvania include the Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, House Wren, and Indigo Bunting.”
Houtz presented the paper in a talk at the 2025 Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. Three of her Allegheny students also attended the conference to present their own research, and they were able to attend her talk, says Houtz. Those students included Sophia Mita ’24 a biology major and environmental writing minor; Nelly Stafford ’25, a biology major and psychology minor, and Sunny Stout ’26, an environmental science and sustainability major and Arabic minor.
The professor is currently carrying out independent research on birds at Maurice K. Goddard State Park in Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania, where she studies bioindicators of stress resilience in Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds.
“Being a biology professor at Allegheny is my dream job,” Houtz says. “I enjoy the small class sizes where I get to know students on a personal level and teach them about the beauty of nature. My favorite part of my job is advising Senior Comp students who get to develop an independent research project from the ground up. It is the most rewarding feeling to watch their interests and skill sets develop as they become experts of their own projects.”
