As a physiological ecologist, Dr. Lisa Hazard's primary interest is in organism-level biology: how individual organisms function and behave, how they are influenced by their environment and their evolutionary history, and how this ultimately leads to the evolution of biological diversity. Her research focuses on the physiological ecology of reptiles and amphibians, integrating lab and field studies, often with a conservation-oriented approach. Her current major areas of study include the evolutionary and ecological patterns underlying osmoregulatory strategies used by reptiles with high-salt diets and the impact of anthropogenic changes to environmental salinity on temperate zone amphibian species; She is involved in several other projects as well.

In both of her main areas of study, she has found fascinating variation among species in how they cope physiologically and behaviorally with environmental or dietary salts, with profound implications for the evolution of physiological traits and for the conservation of imperiled species. Students participate in all aspects of Dr. Hazard's research, and several have been co-authors on conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications.

Conservation physiology and physiological ecology
Reptile and amphibian physiology, ecology, and natural history (emphasis on northeastern and southwestern U.S. fauna)