Cory Elowe - Department of Biology

1328 Weston Hall
Office Phone: (906) 227-2163
celowe@nmu.edu

• 2022 - PhD, Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 2016 - MS, Biology, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo
• 2011 - BA, Biology & Environmental Studies, Bowdoin College

My research explores how flexible physiological responses hold the potential for resilience. I look at the novel ways animals meet exceptional challenges through integrative tools, from whole-animal energetics to molecular mechanisms in the cells. I use experimental techniques to understand the drivers of flexible traits and how this generates a reservoir of capacity to cope with extreme or unpredictable conditions.

• BI213 - Human Anatomy & Physiology I
• BI214 - Human Anatomy & Physiology II
• BI427 - Ecological Animal Physiology

• Stager, M., Wilde, L., Ganley, R., Elowe, C.R. (2025) Modifications to skeletal muscle morphology correlate with increased thermogenic capacity during cold-acclimation in Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis). Comp. Biochem. Physiol. B.
• Rogers, E.J., Elowe, C.R., Stager, M., Gerson, A.R. (2025). Arduino allows development of a low-cost, high-resolution metabolic and behavioral phenotyping system for birds. J. Exp. Biol.
• Gutierrez Ramirez, M., Griego, M.S., DeSimone, J.G., Elowe, C.R., Gerson, A.R. (2025). Lean mass deposition occurs at a greater rate than fat deposition during spring stopover in highly depleted songbirds in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Conservation Physiology.
• Stager, M., Eddy, D.K., Elowe, C.R., Cheviron, Z.A., Carling, M.D. (2024). Haemosporidian infection does not alter aerobic performance in Junco hyemalis (Dark-eyed Junco). Ornithology.
• Gerson, A.R., Elowe, C.R., Stager, M. (2024). Symposium Introduction: Recent advances in the mechanistic understanding of avian responses to environmental challenges. Integrative and Comparative Biology.
• Friman, S., Elowe, C.R., Hao, S., Mendez, L, Ayala, R., Brown, I., Hagood, C., Hedlund, Y., Jackson, D., Orfanides, G., Ozcan, E., Ramirez, J., Gerson, A., Breuer, K., Hedrick, T. (2024). It pays to follow the leader: metabolic cost of flight is lower for trailing birds in small group flight. PNAS.
• Elowe, C.R., Stager, M. (2024). SERCA uncoupling may facilitate cold acclimation in dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) without regulation by sarcolipin or phospholamban. Integrative and Comparative Biology.
• Elowe, C.R, Stager, M., Gerson, A.R. (2024). Sarcolipin relates to fattening, but not sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase uncoupling, in captive migratory Gray Catbirds. J. Exp. Biol. 227.
• Elowe, C.R., Babbitt, C., and Gerson, A.R. (2023). White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) liver and pectoralis flight muscle transcriptomic changes in preparation for migration. Physiological Genomics 55: 544-556.
• Elowe, C.R., Groom, D.J.E., Slezacek, J., and Gerson, A.R. (2023). Long-duration wind tunnel flights reveal exponential declines in protein catabolism over time in short- and long-distance migratory warblers. PNAS 120.
• Gutierrez Ramirez, M., Griego, M.S., DeSimone, J.G., Elowe, C.R., Gerson, A.R. (2022). Depleted lean body mass after crossing an ecological barrier differentially affects stopover duration and refueling rate among species of long-distance migratory birds. Functional Ecology.
• Seewagen, C.L., Elowe, C.R., Gerson, A.R., Groom, D.J.E., Ma, Y., Yildirim, M., and Guglielmo, C.G. (2022). Short-term mercury exposure disrupts muscular and hepatic lipid metabolism in a migrant songbird: implications for migratory performance. Scientific Reports 12: 11470-11479.
• Elowe, C.R. and Gerson, A.R. (2022). Migratory disposition alters lean mass dynamics and protein metabolism in migratory White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis). Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 323: R98-R109.
• Elowe, C.R. and Tomanek, L. (2021). Circadian and circatidal rhythms of protein abundance in the California mussel (Mytilus californianus). Molecular Ecology 30: 5151-5163.
• Desimone, J.G., Gutierrez Ramirez, M., Elowe, C.R., Griego, M.S., Breuner, C.G., and Gerson, A.R. (2020). Developing a Stopover-CORT hypothesis: corticosterone predicts body composition and refueling rate in Gray Catbirds during migratory stopover. Hormones and Behavior 124: 104776.