Scholars
Cohorts
Cohort 2024-2025
Nicole Bisente
Nicole is interested in investigating the mechanisms and environmental conditions that underlie organismal adaptations in response to urbanization and climate change.
Ellie Bollich
Ellie is interested in small mammal systematics, with a special interest in cleaning up and clarifying species within Rodentia. She is also interested in museum-based research and curation, as well as tropical ecology and evolution.
Leilani Corleto
Leilani has previously conducted research on potentially cryptic species of rockfish utilizing molecular evolutionary methods to illustrate the phylogenetic and geographic distribution of their lineages. Her current research interests include utilizing phylogenetics, bioinformatics, and museum collections for conservation biology, to piece together evolutionary histories, and to understand biodiversity.
Kara James
Kara is interested in investigating the ways in which climate change and other factors such as ocean acidification and how they affect coral reefs and their microbiome leading to diseases and bleaching events.
Brett Kincade
Brett is interested in phylogenetics and the morphological and genetic changes of animals, especially birds, through evolutionary time. His main research interests are in how birds are evolving in response to today’s changing climate, and how they respond to environmental stressors.
Elena Liebl
Elena has previously worked on a project involving cricket behavior and how the outcome of a fight may affect exploration tendencies. Elena’s current research interests are animal behavior, invasive species, conservation, and how climate change impacts species evolution.
Christian Mack
Christian graduated from Louisiana State University. He previously was a curatorial and research assistant to Curator Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty, working in maintaining and growing the fish collections at the LSU Museum of Natural Science. Christian Is interested in systematics of marine plants and animals.
Caitlin Randall
Caitlin is interested in anthropogenic stressors and their effects upon evolutionary ecology. Also, she is interested in gaining more experience with environmental microbiology, microbial ecology and evolution, and phytoplankton ecology, especially with respect to anthropogenic stressors.
Edmarie Rivera Sánchez
Edmarie is passionate about environmental microbiology and the role of microorganisms in animal and plant hosts. She has had experience working with endangered species such as the leatherback sea turtle, the Puerto Rican parrot and the Puerto Rican boa. Her main interests involve microbial ecology, host-microbe interactions and especially fungal species.
Melissa Salazar
Melissa's interests include ornithology, natural history, observing anthropogenic effects, and using the above to monitor environmental changes.
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Cohort 2023-2024
Testing bivalbe hybridization overtime using mitochondrial markers and low coverage genome analysis
Mentor: Dr. Morgan Kelly
Co-mentor: Dr. Jordan Dowell
Next step: Lab tech at Lab Corp in Baton Rouge, LA
Molecular Evolution of Topoisomerases in Extremophilic Microbes
Abby studied the evolution of topoisomerases, key enzymes controlling DNA topology, in extremophilic microbes. Using both computational and experimental methods, she plans to investigate molecular changes in topoisomerases that are able to operate in these extreme environments.
Mentor: Dr. Jeremy Brown
Co-mentor: Dr. Allyn Schoeffler
Next step: study at Tulane University’s PhD program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Exploring Limb Loss in Squamates: Genomic Analysis of Enhancer Regions and Limb Formation Genes
Sashoya focused on the study of limb loss in squamates. She will utilize existing specimen collections along with genomic sequencing and assembly approaches to identify and characterize enhancer regions and genes associated with limb formation in the limbless squamate taxa.
Mentor: Dr. Brant Faircloth
Co-mentor: Dr. Loren Cassin Sackett
Next step: Lab assistant at Stanford University
Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Genomic Diversity and Salinity Levels in Common Nighthawks
Amanda studied the population decline of Common Nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) on the Gulf Coast. Looking at spatial and temporal change in breeding habitat, trophic level and genetic diversity through a combination of stable isotopes and whole genome sequencing.
Mentor: Dr. Nicholas Mason
Co-mentor: Dr. Catherine Newman
Next Step: PhD student in the Mason Lab at LSU
Phylogenetic Analysis and Secondary Metabolite Screening of Rubiaceae
Shelby assembled a phylogeny of the Rubiaceae family, a large and diverse family of tropical South American plants, using herbarium specimens. Additionally, she tested members of the family for the presence of alkaloids and cyclotides, bioactive secondary metabolites.
Mentor: Dr. Laura Lagomarsino
Co-mentor: Dr. Samantha Gerlach
Next step: PhD position at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in the K. Pfennig Lab, studying hybridization in frogs.
Investigating Regulatory Elements in Anableps anableps
The goal of Iyana's project was to use transgenesis to investigate what genes regulate the expression of the split cornea and pupils in Anableps anableps the “four eyed fish”.
Mentor: Dr. Patricia Schneider
Co-mentor: Dr. Nastassia Jones
Next step: PhD student position at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio
Comparative RNA Sequencing Analysis to Reveal Transcriptome Variations in Schrenkiella parvula Under Multi-Salt Stress
Jorge compared RNA sequencing data of Schrenkiella parvula under multi-salt stress vs. single salt stress conditions to identify differences in the transcriptome. His goal was to gain further insight into S. parvula's unique resilience in salt rich environments.
Mentor: Dr. Maheshi Dassanakaye
Co-mentor: Dr. Kathleen Ferris
Next step: Graduate school at Tulane University.
Quantifying Allochthonous and Autochthonous Sources of Soil Organic Matter in Coastal Louisiana Marshes
In Louisiana, coastal land loss threatens global carbon sequestration by wetlands. Samantha studied soil organic matter in natural and created marshes, assessing contributions from autochthonous and allochthonous sources using stable isotopic analysis. Additionally, she investigated the impact of Mississippi River freshwater diversion on these marshes' organic matter composition.
Mentor: Dr. Michael Polito
Co-mentor: Dr. Hector Douglas
Next step: M.S. in Marine Biology at University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Climate Change Impact on Littorina littorea with Presence of Trematodes
Jeanne researched whether populations of L. littorea from Southern Louisiana are infested with trematodes and how warmer temperatures affect the rate of disease spread. Trematodes are a common parasite found on these snails and can add stress due to the heat, potentially altering the snails' behavior.
Mentor: Dr. Morgan Kelly
Co-mentor: Dr. Francesca Mellieon-Williams
Next step: Marine Educator at Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON).
Differences in Behavior Between Two Congeneric Lizards and Lead’s Effects on Those Behaviors
Emily compared neophobia, exploration, and aggression between individuals of Anolis carolinensis and A. sagrei collected from urban sites. Corticosterone levels of all lizards were determined by analysis of blood samples collected at capture (before behavior tests) and after behavior tests, while neophobia, exploration, and aggression were observed using behavior tests.
Mentor: Dr. Christine Lattin
Co-mentor: Dr. Alex Gunderson
Next steps: M.S in Wildlife at Texas State