Graduate Students in OEB
See the OEB online directory for contact information.
 | Adams, Melissa Girguis Lab G4 |
 | Adams, Catharine Pringle Lab G1 |
 | Akle-Serrano, Sebastian Desai Lab G3 |
 | Ali, Farhan Olveczky Lab G5 I am broadly interested in brain and behavior. My dissertation specifically examines the mechanisms for vocal learning and plasticity in adult zebra finches, a songbird. |
 | Arnold, Brian Bomblies Lab G4 I study the effect that whole-genome duplication has on the evolutionary trajectory of species. In particular, I am interested in the selective pressures created by whole-genome duplication and how polyploid populations evolve and give rise to successful species. To explore this topic I use a naturally occurring polyploid (Arabidopsis arenosa) and a model organism (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). |
 | Baduel, Pierre Bomblies Lab G1 |
 | Baker, Christopher Pierce Lab G5 I work on the insect and microbial ecology of the Acacia drepanolobium ant-plant system in East Africa, and of Xanthoparmelia lichens in North America. |
 | Baldwin, Maude Edwards Lab G6 |
 | Bedford, Nicole Hoekstra Lab G1 |
 | Beinart, Roxanne Girguis Lab G5 |
 | Bhullar, Bhart-Anjan Abzhanov Lab G5 |
 | Bittleston, Leonora Pringle Lab G3 I study insect-microbial-plant interactions, with a focus on mutualism. Currently, I’m looking at the fungi, bacteria and insects living inside carnivorous pitcher plants, which have evolved convergently in the US and Southeast Asia. |
 | Boronow, Katherine Losos Lab G2 |
 | Boyle, John Pierce Lab G2 Jack Boyle studies colony structure and geographic structure in East African arboreal ants. |
 | Brown, Alexandra Moorcroft Lab G2 |
 | Buckman, Rebecca Giribet Lab G1 |
 | Camacho, Jasmin Abzhanov Lab G1 |
 | Campbell-Staton, Shane Edwards Lab G4 |
 | Chan, Janice Moorcroft Lab G2 Exploring the importance of organismal biodiversity to ecosystem health and services. |
 | Chang, Hsiao-Han Hartl Lab G5 |
 | Chen, Zhunan Zhang Lab G6 |
 | Clifton, Glenna Biewener Lab G3 I study the biomechanics of foot-propelled diving birds, specifically how the unique limb morphology of grebes, loons, and cormorants influences their ability to produce force and maneuver while capturing fish. |
 | Corbett-Detig, Russell Hartl Lab G3 |
 | Cornwall, Mark Pierce Lab G10 |
 | Crall, James Combes Lab G3 |
 | de Medeiros, Bruno Farrell Lab G2 I study the origin and diversification of the most diverse animal family: curculionid beetles. By studying taxonomy, natural history, ecology and phylogenetics of selected taxa, I want to understand what processes generated the over 60,000 known species in this group. |
 | Donoughe, Seth Extavour Lab G2 I study the germ cells of insects, specifically their evolution and development. |
 | Evans, Amanda Farrell Lab G12 |
 | Ewen-Campen, Benjamin Extavour Lab G5 I study the evolution and development of germ cells among insects. |
 | Feilich, Kara Lauder Lab G2 |
 | Fronk, David Cavanaugh Lab G1 |
 | Gilbert, Kadeem Edwards Lab G1 |
 | Gonzalez, Vanessa Giribet Lab G6 |
 | Gorring, Patrick Farrell Lab G3 I explore the factors influencing the tremendous diversity of plant feeding beetles focusing on the beetle genus <i>Monochamus</i>. Host plant shifts, plant defenses, glaciation and vicariance all effect divergence. I use cutting edge genomic techniques and morphology to explore their consequence and contribute to developing theories of the predominant mechanism of speciation. |
 | Haelewaters, Danny Pfister Lab G1 Although already discovered in 1850, the Laboulbeniales are perhaps the most intriguing and yet least studied of all insect-associated parasitic fungi. I am interested in the relationship between the parasites and their hosts. Are closely related parasites more dependent on their hosts or on the hosts’ habitat? |
 | Harrison, Alexis Losos Lab G7 |
 | Hauser, Oliver Nowak Lab G3 I'm an OEB Ph.D. student interested in the evolution of cooperation. Putting my prior physics education to use, I develop mathematical models to research evolutionary mechanisms that promote cooperation under the supervision of my advisor Martin Nowak. |
 | Hawkins, Brent Abzhanov Lab G2 |
 | Huggett, Brett Holbrook Lab G7 |
 | Jacobs-Palmer, Emily Hoekstra Lab G5 |
 | Jiang, Pan-Pan Hartl Lab G6 My research interests focus on the Y chromosome, sexual selection, and conflicts between the sexes in the model organism Drosophila melangoaster. I am also interested in drug resistance in the malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax and its global health implications. |
 | Jones, Tamsin Extavour Lab G2 |
 | Jordan, Benjamin Mahadevan Lab G5 |
 | Kakouridis, Anne Richardson Lab G1 |
 | Kaliszewska, Zofia Pierce Lab G9 |
 | Kamath, Ambika Losos Lab G2 |
 | Kay, Emily Hoekstra Lab G6 Through a combination of field and laboratory studies, I am quantifying the reproductive barriers preventing gene flow between two sister species of <i>Peromyscus</i> mice to evaluate the relative contributions of premating vs. postmating barriers to the speciation process. |
 | King, Leandra Wakeley Lab G2 |
 | Kingsley, Evan Hoekstra Lab G6 I primarily study tail length variation in mice. Mice use their tails to balance and brace themselves when climbing, so forest mice have evolved longer tails than prairie mice. I'm investigating the evolution, genetics, and development of the tail and other skeletal traits. |
 | Klosterman, Stephen Richardson Lab G2 I research the role of plants in climate change. Using modeling and field study, I investigate how the timing of plant biological events will be affected by changing temperature and precipitation, with subsequent effects on atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. |
 | Ko, Lai Man Raymond Olveczky Lab G4 studying the neural mechanisms of execution and learning of complex motor sequences in rodents |
 | Kotler, Jennifer Haig Lab G1 I am interested in studying parent-offspring conflict, with a focus on genomic imprinting. Currently I'm studying imprinting disorders in humans as a means through which to learn more about this phenomenon. |
 | Lagomarsino, Laura Davis Lab G4 I am interested in Neotropical plant evolution, particularly in the Andean cordilleras. Specifically, I am studying the evolution and systematics of the Neotropical Lobelioideae, an evolutionarily young and impressively diverse group of 550 species that are pollinated by either bats or hummingbirds, and can herbs less than a few feet tall to trees more than 12 m in height. I am interested in how all that amazing diversity came to be! |
 | Laumer, Christopher Giribet Lab G5 I am a zoologist, systematist, and sometimes molecular ecologist with an interest in soft-bodied aquatic meiofauna, chiefly Platyhelminthes (the flatworms). My thesis work employs conventional and increasingly, genomic-scale phylogenetic techniques to understand the global diversification and morphological evolution of an enigmatic flatworm order, "Lecithoepitheliata". |
 | Levy, Clara Kramer Lab G1 |
 | Lewis, Zachary Hanken Lab G4 |
 | Lim, Jeanette Lauder Lab G7 Fish are incredibly diverse creatures that display an impressive array of body forms and behaviors. When it comes to swimming, some fish are champions (tuna!), while other fish are not. For my PhD research, I'm studying a fish that wouldn't even make it to the podium: the hagfish. Hagfish are proto-vertebrates that are nearly blind, have no paired fins, and are so flexible that they can tie their bodies into knots. So how does this fish actually swim? By studying the movement patterns and hydrodynamics of swimming hagfish bodies, I'm hoping to learn about how some of the earliest and most bendable fishes moved through the water. |
 | Loo, Wesley Cavanaugh Lab G2 |
 | Metz, Hillery Hoekstra Lab G5 |
 | Moore, Talia Biewener Lab G3 I study the dynamics, kinematics, and ecology of bipedal locomotion in <i>Jaculus jaculus</i> and other convergent bipedal desert rodents. |
 | Munoz, Martha Losos Lab G5 My research examines how behavior determines an organism's selective environment. I examine how a single behavior can simultaneously impede and impel evolution in different traits. Specifically, I focus on the role of behavioral thermoregulation in dampening selection on physiology while driving morphological evolution in tropical lizards. |
 | Nayak, Dipti Marx Lab G4 |
 | Nikolov, Lachezar Davis Lab G5 Rafflesiaceae produce the world’s largest flowers, yet despite their fame, the developmental basis of these evolutionary giants has remained a mystery for nearly two centuries. I utilize comparative morphological and molecular studies to understand the processes underlying the floral development in the group. |
 | Nitta, Joel Davis Lab G2 I study the ecology and evolution of ferns. In particular, I am interested in the the role of the cryptic gametophyte generation in structuring fern communities. |
 | Olins, Heather Girguis Lab G4 I study microbial communities in hydrothermal vent environments. I am currently investigating carbon fixation rates and pathways, the difference between microbial community composition and activity, and the role that mineralogy plays in microbial community structure, succession, and metabolism. |
 | Park, Danny Sabeti Lab G3 Danny uses computational genomics to study the emergence of drug resistance in the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. His work is based in the Sabeti lab, in collaboration with the Hartl lab (OEB), Wirth lab (HSPH) and the Broad Institute. |
 | Peters, Jacob Combes Lab G1 |
 | Pham, Jenny Hartl Lab G1 |
 | Piper, Julia Desai Lab G1 |
 | Povilus, Rebecca Friedman Lab G2 |
 | Powell, Thomas Moorcroft Lab G5 |
 | Qin, Yuqi Zhang Lab G6 I am interested in stress response and olfactory sensation. Specifically, my research is about aversive experience induced serotonin synthesis in <i>C. elegans</i>. I am also interested in neural plasticity underlying learning and memory. |
 | Rice, Daniel Desai Lab G2 |
 | Rojas Echenique, José Marx Lab G2 I’m working towards an understanding of the physiological traits and interactions that make up a model fitness landscape: the central carbon metabolism of Methylobacterium extorquens. |
 | Ros, Ivo Biewener Lab G5 Maneuvering flight is fascinatingly complex. I approach this behavior at various levels: from neuro-muscular control and subsequent mechanical output, to the integration of sensory feedback. A thorough understanding of behaviors leads to new insights in general principles that guide evolution. |
 | Rosenbloom, Daniel Nowak Lab G5 |
 | Russell, Shelbi Cavanaugh Lab G3 |
 | Sanders, Jon Pierce Lab G5 |
 | Sarikaya, Didem Extavour Lab G4 |
 | Sefton, Elizabeth Hanken Lab G4 |
 | Shen, Yu Zhang Lab G5 |
 | Shultz, Allison Edwards Lab G2 I am interested in the evolution of complex phenotypic traits, and how these phenotypes and genotypes relate to diversity. Currently, I am using genomic tools to study phylogeography and adaptation to disease in the House Finch. |
 | Stuart, Yoel Losos Lab G6 I study the evolutionary consequences of novel species interactions, the genetic basis of color, and patterns of species turnover among communities. My study system is <i>Anolis</i> lizards. |
 | Switzer, Callin Combes Lab G1 I am interested in biomechanics and plant-animal interactions. |
 | Treibergs, Kira Woollacott Lab G1 I am interested in marine invertebrate coloniality, larval biology, and the evolution of division of labor in bryozoans. |
 | Vitti, Joseph Sabeti Lab G1 |
 | Wheeler, James Holbrook Lab G8 |
 | Wilton, Peter Wakeley Lab G2 I am interested in the theoretical population genetics of population structure, population divergence, and speciation. |
 | Wu, Yunke Hanken Lab G7 |
 | Wu, Cheng-Chiang (John) Kramer Lab G9 My thesis research studies the evolution of genetic modules which control floral development. I use genetic, genomic, phylogenetic, biochemical and modeling approaches to investigate how these genetic modules have evolved through the emergence of the core eudicot clade, which comprises 75% of extant flowering plants. |
 | Young, Adrian Haig Lab G6 My thesis research centers on the feedback between genetic conflict and aspects of genome architecture through bioinformatic analyses on sex-biased and imprinted genes in Mus. |
 | Yu, Jingyi Zhang Lab G4 |
 | Zhai, Xuemei McCarthy Lab G5 |
 | Zimmerman, Kolea Pringle Lab G3 I study fungal life history traits including germination and senescence. I’m interested in comparing asexual and sexual reproduction from an evolutionary perspective. I’m exploring patterns and mechanisms of organismal senescence or "aging" within the fungal kingdom, with a particular focus on the role of calcium signaling and mitochondria. |