Eliza Tarimo

IGC FELLOW    |   Global Change Center

Ph.D. Student  •  Biological Sciences

Advisor : Dr. Josef Uyeda

Research Interests: Macroevolution, physiological evolution, evolution of thermal adaptations

delizabeth@vt.edu  •  Lab Website

Eliza earned her B.S. in Wildlife Management from Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. She later worked as a safari guide, leading groups and interpreting tropical ecology for U.S. college students in study abroad programs.

While working in some of East Africa’s driest yet most biodiverse conservation areas, Eliza became fascinated by how different species adapt physiologically to the intense savannah heat—each maintaining distinct body forms despite facing similar environmental pressures. This curiosity led her to pursue a Ph.D. at Virginia Tech in the fall of 2021, joining the Uyeda Lab in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Her research focuses on the macroevolution of thermal physiology. Using phylogenetic comparative models, she investigates the evolutionary rates of body temperature in endotherms and ectotherms to better understand their adaptive potential to anthropogenic change—an essential step toward effective species conservation. In addition to her research, Eliza is a certified Carpentries instructor, trained to teach foundational coding and data analysis skills to beginners.

In joining the IGC, Eliza aims to strengthen her ability to collaborate across disciplines and communicate science effectively to students, scientists and non-scientists alike.