Graduate Students

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Cindy Barreto

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Host-parasite interactions; urban evolutionary biology; bird behavior; avian ecology and conservation.

cindy.barreto@uconn.edu

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Peter Billman

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Ecological responses to climate change, drivers of animal range limits, biogeography, evolutionary ecology, stress response, and especially how these all tie together in montane systems, globally

peter.billman@uconn.edu

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Savanna Brown

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms underlying the evolution and diversification of novel traits, particularly in the body plans of arthropods

savanna.brown@uconn.edu

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Brandon Chan

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Climate change effects on phytoplankton-bacteria interactions; antibiotic resistance in marine environments; phytoplankton ecology

brandon.w.chan@uconn.edu

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Emma Choi

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: I'm interested in identifying genes that are coevolving between threespine stickleback and a parasitic tapeworm that infects them.

emma.choi@uconn.edu

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Tianyu Cui

Masters Student

Research Interests: Evolution of pollination syndromes and the genetic basis of morphological diversity

tianyu.cui@uconn.edu

Christine DeRoux

Doctoral Student

chris.deroux@uconn.edu

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Matthew Donahue

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: I'm interested in studying the ways that anthropogenic activities shape evolution on a contemporary timescale and how we can use evolutionary principles to promote conservation

matthew.donahue@uconn.edu

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Emily Feng

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Exploring the interface of human-natural systems; Developing conservation strategies for biodiversity and human well-being

mei-ling.feng@uconn.edu

Margot Gagnon

BS/MS Student

Research Interests: Wildlife conservation and ichthyology

mag10026@uconn.edu

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Mandy Game

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: I am interested in the evolution and development of panarthropods

amanda.game@uconn.edu

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Franco Gigliotti

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Applied avian ecology, with particular interests in threatened and endangered species, landscape ecology, survey methods, species projections, and remote sensing techniques.

frank.gigliotti@uconn.edu

Amelia Grillo

arg19001@uconn.edu

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Cristopher Guzman

Masters Student

Research Interests: Conservation Genomics, Bioinformatics, Urban Agriculture, Microbiology, and Synthetic Biology

cristopher.guzman@uconn.edu

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Sydney Horan

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Host-parasite interactions and environmental change

sydney.horan@uconn.edu

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Sila Inanoglu

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Host-parasite relationships and parasite behavior

sila.inanoglu@uconn.edu

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Noor Kaur

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: I am interested in studying the developmental morphology and genetic mechanisms underlying the diverse leaf shapes in Pelargonium scabrum.

noorpreet.kaur@uconn.edu

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G. Young Kim

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Epiphytic CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) plants in tropical rainforests, specifically native Hawaiian Peperomia (family Piperaceae)

gykim@uconn.edu

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Chelsea Kintz

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Functional morphology of birds

chelsea.kintz@uconn.edu

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Hagen Klobusnick

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Microbial Community Ecology and Evolution, Theoretical Ecology, Phenotypic Plasticity, Harmful Algal Blooms, Astrobiology, Philosophy of Ecology

dvp24002@uconn.edu

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Katja Kwaku

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Amphibian ecology and conservation

katja.kwaku@uconn.edu

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Hannah Larson

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Phytoplankton responses to environmental stressors.

hannah.larson@uconn.edu

Emily Lesinski

Masters Student

emily.lesinski@uconn.edu

Rachel Levinson

Masters Student

rachel.levinson@uconn.edu

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Weijun Liang

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Evolutionary genetics of floral traits

weijun.liang@uconn.edu

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Ellie Loew-Mendelson

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: I am interested in exploring adaptations among the aquatic plants of New England -- how they grow, reproduce, and co-exist

emendelson@uconn.edu

Sean Lyon

Doctoral Student

msx25003@uconn.edu

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Claire Marino

Doctoral Student

claire.marino@uconn.edu

Molly McCann

Masters Student

mjm20035@uconn.edu

Airianna McGuire

Doctoral Student

xmn24004@uconn.edu

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Kelsey Miles

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Physiological and behavioral ecology in family Chrysomelidae: thermal tolerances and impacts of climate change on survivorship, fecundity, behavior, physiology.

kelsey.2.miles@uconn.edu

Analisa Milkey

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Phylogenetic methods

analisa.milkey@uconn.edu

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Baaqeyah Muhammad

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Evolutionary and developmental consequences of genome expansion in salamanders

baaqeyah@uconn.edu

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Zachary Muscavitch

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Systematics, taxonomy, and phylogeography of lichenized fungi and their symbionts. Symbiont biology

zachary.muscavitch@uconn.edu

Photo of Meghan Myles

Meghan Myles

Masters Student

Research Interests: Conservation biology and efficient data management

meghan.myles@uconn.edu

Jensen O'Meara

Masters Student

anya.o'meara@uconn.edu

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Felix Ortega

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: The evolution of parasitic copepods using a combination of taxonomy and systematics with the newest technologies in evolutionary biology and phylogenetics

ndy24001@uconn.edu

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Lorraine Pérez-Beauchamp

Masters Student

Research Interests: Urban ecology, conservation, animal behavior, and disease ecology, specifically how female finch behavior relates to disease risk of urban vs. non-urban finch nestlings

lorraine.perez@uconn.edu

Dominique Pham

Doctoral Student

yya25002@uconn.edu

Photo of Sophia Provencher

Sophia Provencher

Masters Student

Research Interests: Phycology, climate change ecology, and trophic level adaptations. Specifically, I want to understand how Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) impact food chains and ecosystem dynamics

lkf24001@uconn.edu

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Cappy Pugliese

Masters Student

caprina.pugliese@uconn.edu

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Coleman Pushlar

BS/MS Student

cop18009@uconn.edu

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Jeremy Quirós-Navarro

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Understanding how the complex interactions between plants and the animals that depend on them (insects and mammals) influence plant health, animal behavior, species fitness, and overall evolutionary ecosystem dynamics

jeremy.quiros-navarro@uconn.edu

Morgan Reynolds

Masters Student

morgan.reynolds@uconn.edu

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Kyle Rossner

Masters Student

Research Interests: Factors influencing changes in populations of Lepidoptera in pine barrens ecosystems, the concepts and perception of ecological rarity as they relate to species of megachilid bees, and the biogeography of Nearctic waterscorpions.

kyle.rossner@uconn.edu

Laurel Schmidt

Doctoral Student

uci25003@uconn.edu

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Douglas Stephan

Doctoral Student

douglas.stephan@uconn.edu

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Swapna Subramanian

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Yeast experimental evolution and genetic networks; predicting evolutionary outcomes to climate change

swapna.subramanian@uconn.edu

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Alexandra Thornton

Masters Student

eeh24001@uconn.edu

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Angley Toro Casiano

BS/MS Student

hek24001@uconn.edu

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Nicholas Van Gilder

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Conservation genetics, systematics, and phylogenetics of plethodontid salamanders

nicholas.van_gilder@uconn.edu

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Vidya Vuruputoor

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Genomics and its application towards understanding plant-parasite interactions

vidya.vuruputoor@uconn.edu

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Cynthia Webster

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: Bioinformatics and conservation genomics

cynthia.webster@uconn.edu

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Netanya Williams

Masters Student

Research Interests: Taxonomy of Pseudotaeniacanthus, a group of parasitic copepods of marine eels.

netanya.williams@uconn.edu

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Wenjin Yan

Doctoral Student

Research Interests: The molecular mechanisms of anthocyanin spot patterning in Mimulus

Crystal Zhu

Masters Student

crystal.zhu@uconn.edu