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Former Lab Members

Postdoctoral Fellows

2020-2024Dr. Ross DeAngelis, NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology;
now enrolled in business school at UT Austin
2020-2022Dr. Shana Caro, Stengl-Wyer Scholar;
now Assistant Professor at Adelphi University, Garden City (NY)
2015-2019Dr. Tessa Solomon-Lane, Integrative Biology Postdoctoral Fellow;
now Assistant Professor in Keck Science Department at Claremont-McKenna Colleges
2013-2015Dr. Alex Jordan, Integrative Biology Postdoctoral Fellow;
now Independent Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, Konstanz (Germany)
2012-2014Dr. Bridget Nugent, Gaylord Donnelley Environmental Postdoctoral Fellow;
now Science Policy Analyst, U.S. Food & Drug Administration
2009-2013Dr. Peter D. Dijkstra, Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow (European Union);
now Assoc. Professor at Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant (MI)
2006-2009Dr. Michael R. Kidd, Postdoc;
now Associate Professor at Texas A&M University, Laredo (TX)
2005-2007Dr. Nina Duftner, Postdoc, Erwin Schrödinger Postdoctoral Fellow;
now R&D group leader at Sandoz
2005-2006Dr. Daphne Soares, Postdoc, NIH minority supplement;
now Associate Professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology
2003-2004Dr. Brian C. Trainor, Postdoc;
now Professor at UC Davis
2002-2006Dr. Nadia Aubin-Horth, Postdoc, NSERC (Canada) Postdoctoral Fellow;
now Professor at Laval University, Quebec (Canada)
2002-2006Dr. Susan C.P. Renn, Postdoc, Kirschstein NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow;
now Professor at Reed College, Portland (OR)

Graduate Students

2019-2024Dr. Jiawei (Will) Han, Ph.D. in Cellular & Molecular Biology;
now an Associate at McKinsey & Company
2016-2023Dr. Isaac Miller-Crews, Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution & Behavior;
now Common Themes in Reproductive Diversity (CTRD) postdoc with Kim Rosvall and Matthew Hahn at Indiana University
2013-2021Dr. Caitlin Friesen, Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, now postdoc with Aras Petrulis and Geert DeVries at Georgia State University
2017-2021Dr. Kelly Wallace , Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution & Behavior;
now Assistant Professor at Amherst College
2014-2020Dr. Mariana Rodriguez-Santiago, Ph.D. in Neuroscience
now postdoc with Kim Hoke at Colorado State University 
2012-2017Dr. Rayna Harris, Ph.D. in Cellular & Molecular Biology;
now instructor in biology at Lake Tahoe Community College and yoga instructor 
2010-2017Dr. Sean Maguire, NSF GRFP Fellow, Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior;
now Senior Scientist High Throughput Sequencing and Screening, Moderna Genomics
2011-2016Dr. Chelsea Weitekamp, NSF GRFP Fellow, Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior;
now Assistant Center Director for Research Translation and Program/Regulatory Support in the Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure at the US Environmental Protection Agency
2008-2011Anna Sessa, M.A. in EEB;
now Program Manager at Emergency Medical Services for Children, New Hampshire
2007-2011Dr. Lauren O’Connell, Ph.D. in Cellular & Molecular Biology;
now Associate Professor at Stanford University
2007-2011Dr. Lin Winton (formerly Huffman), Ph.D. in Cellular & Molecular Biology;
now Director, Quantitative Resource Center at Carleton College
2007-2011Dr. Keith Whitaker, Ph.D. in Neuroscience (DoD SMART Fellowship recipient);
now Advanced Sciences & Technologies Program Manager at Battelle
2006-2011Dr. Ryan Wong, Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior;
now Associate Professor at the University Omaha Nebraska


Undergraduate Students

2023-2025Vivek Beeram, B.S. in Biology
now in MD/PhD program
2022-2025Isabel Western (She/Her/Hers), B.S.A. in Neuroscience
2024-2025Nadja Yaroschuk, B.S.
now Travis County EMT
2024-2025Kathryn Douglass (They/Them/Theirs), B.S. in Marine Biology;
Working at the Oklahoma Aquarium!
2024Aastha Bhatia(she/her/hers), B.S. in Biomedical Engineering
2024Maclean Arnett
2023-2025Abby Beman, seeking a B.S. in Mathematics
2022-2024Camille Brown, B.S. in Biology: Marine & Freshwater Biology
2022-2024Noé Reyna, B.S. in Biology: Computational Biology & Bioinformatics, now a graduate student in Human Genetics at UCLA Medical School
2022-2024Katherine Bartz, B.S. in Biology
2023Lan Pham, B.S. in Mathematics
2023Jaime Ramirez-Gomez, B.S. in Biology
2023Grady Wright, B.S. in Biology
2022-2023Abiel Issac, B.S. in Biology: Neuroscience
2022-2023Wenting Lu, B.S. in Mathematics
2021-2022Marisa Ballard, B.S. in Biomedical Engineering
2021-2022Rebeca Moreno Villarreal, B.S. in Biology
2021William Fynes, B.S. in Biology: Marine & Freshwater Biology
2020-2022Niharika Pakala, B.S. in Biology
2020-2022Yihen “Sam” Su*, B.S. in Computer Science
2020-2021Marcos Bermudez, B.S. in Biology
2019-2023Layla Kutty, B.S. in Biology, now at Texas A&M Medical School
2019-2023Don Le, B.S. in Biology, now in medical school
2019-2022Matthew Lee, B.S. in Biology
2019-2022Karleen Wu, B.S. in Biology: Neuroscience; now a research assistant in the Goldschen-Ohm lab at UT Austin
2019-2022Sherley Wang, B.S. in Computer Science, now a software engineer with Apple Pay
2019-2022Asha Gomez, B.S. in Biology: Bioinformatics
2020-2022Andy Zhou, B.S. in Mathematics
2020-2022Yihen “Sam” Su, B.S. in Computer Science
2020-2022Niharika Pakala, B.S. in Biology
2021-2022Rebeca Moreno Villarreal, B.S. in Biology
2021-2022Marisa Ballard, B.S. in Biomedical Engineering
2020-2021Will Fynes, B.S. in Biology
2019-2022Henry Unser, B.S. in Biochemistry
2019-2021Yiyi (Joyce) Wang, B.S. in Biology at UT Austin,
now a graduate student in the Cell & Molecular Biology graduate program at UT Austin
2020-2021Marcos Bermudez, B.S. in Biology at UT Austin
2018-2020Sarah Campbell, B.S. in Neuroscience at UT Austin
now a graduate student in Andy Bass’ lab at Cornell University
2018-2019Emily Reed, B.S. in Biology at UT Austin,
now a graduate student in the Genetics graduate program at Texas A&M
2017-2019Cassidy Malone, B.S. in Psychology at UT Austin,
now a graduate student in Psychology at Cornell University
2019-2020Morgan Laing, B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at UT Austin
2018-2020Pragati Kore,
now a graduate student in Bioinformatics at Baylor College of Medicine
2017-2020Megan Chan, working as a Bioinformatics Analyst with Adaptive Biotechnologies
2018-2019Michael Truong, pursuing a B.S. in Nutrition at UT Austin
2018-2019Kelly Lumpkin,
B.S. in Biology at UT Austin
2018-2019Kavyaa Choudhary,
pursuing a B.S. in Biology in the Plan II Honors program at UT Austin
2017-2018Anokhi Kashiparekh,
working as a Research Technician II at Massachusetts General Hospital
2018Heather Genuise, B.S. in Biology: Marine and Freshwater Science
2015-2018Rebecca Butler,
pursuing a Ph.D. in Integrative Neuroscience at the University of Chicago
2017-2018Ashley Luu,
pursuing a M.Sc. in biomedical science at the University of North Texas Heath Sciences Center
2016-2017Hareem Usmani,
attending medical school at UTMB in Galveston
2016Paul Tee,
seeking a B.S. in Mathematics
2015-2017Savannah Clapp,
pursuing a graduate degree in Coastal Environment at Duke University
2015Nupur Shambharkar,
seeking a B.S. in Neuroscience
2014-2017Pamela Del Valle,  
B.S.A. in Neuroscience and Biology; now a graduate student at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine
2014-2017Pranav Bhamidipati,  
B.S. in Biochemistry, Plan II Honors; now a student in the USC-Caltech MD-PhD program 
2014-2015Vyshnavi Karri,
B.S. in Biology: Neuroscience
2014-2015Nathan Phu Pham,
B.S. in Biochemistry
2014-2015Ranju Kar,
B.S. in Biochemistry; now graduate student at UT Austin
2014-2015Linda Garrison,
B.S. Biology; now a graduate student at Max Planck Research School, Konstanz (Germany)
2013-2014Sylvia Garza Reyes,
B.S. Biology; now a graduate student at Max Planck Research School, Konstanz (Germany)
2013-2014Jessica Nguyen,
now a MD student at UT Southwestern Medical
2012-2014Simon Yu,
B.S. in Chemistry
2012-2014Erica Lynn,
B.S. Biochemistry
2012-2014Esther Osuji,
B.S. in Biology: Neurobiology
2011-2013Augusto Rodriguez,
B.S. in Biology
2011-2012Ashley Hsu, B.S. in Biology
2011-2012My Ngoc Thi “Mimi” Tran,
now at OSU College of Veterinary Medicine
2010-2011Stephanie Flores (deceased), B.S. in Biology
2010-2011Dr. Jay Falk, Ph.D. with Dustin Rubenstein at Columbia University;
now a NSF PRFB postdoc in Taylor Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder
2009-2011Maggie Rigney (née Mitchell),
now a student advisor at UT Austin
2009-2011Julia Ding,
now in medical school
2009-2011Miles Fontenot,
now MD/PhD student at UT Southwestern Medical School
2009-2011Bryan Matthews,
PhD, now an Associate Scientist at CAMP4 Therapeutics
2008-2009Dagan Segal (née Lavee),
PhD, now a postdoctoral fellow at UT Southwestern Medical Center
2007-2009Callison Alcott,
now a graduate student at Baylor College of Medicine
2007-2008Dr. Christine Chen,
dentist
2006-2008Sidney Williams,
BS in Biology
2005-2007Dr. Soledad Jorge,
MD (Yale School of Medicine), Ob Gyn fellow, Columbia University Medical Center
2004-2006Dr. Jasmine Dowell,
MD, pediatrician (U Chicago Medical School)
2004-2005Dr. Eleanor Fraser,
PhD with Nirao Shah at UCSF
2004-2005Dr. Jennie Lin,
MD, Nephrology fellow at U Penn Medical School
2003-2005Dr. Sarah Bahan,
DVM (UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine)
2003-2005Dr. Yehoda Martei,
MD (Yale School of Medicine)
2002-2004Dr. Alex Pollen, Rhodes Scholar, Ph.D. with David Kingsley at Stanford University;
now Associate Professor in Neurology at UCSF
2002-2003Dr. Fiery Cushman;
now Professor of Psychology at Harvard University
2001-2003Dr. Seth Ament, Ph.D. with Gene Robinson, postdoc with Nathan Price;
now Associate Professor in Psychiatry, University of Maryland Medical School



Research Assistants

2022-2024Camille Brown,
now working with David Rand at Brown University
2019-2020Kendra Zwonitzer,
now a graduate student in Cellular and Molecular Biology at UT Austin
2009-2012Dr. Rayna Harris, Ph.D. in Cellular & Molecular Biology;
now instructor in biology at Lake Tahoe Community College and yoga instructor
2006-2009Celeste Kidd,
now a Research Associate at TAMIU
2004-2006Dr. Jonah Larkins-Ford,
now Associate Director Preclinical Development at MarvelBiome
2001-2003Josiah Altschuler,
MSc, now Manager, Software Engineering at Personalis, Inc
2001-2006Sarah Annis
 

Post-Bac Students

2023-2024Heather Wessel, Microscopy & Fish Care;
applying for grad school at UT Austin
2022-2024Matthew Petershack, Comp. Biology & Bioinformatics;
now a graduate student in Genetics & Genomics at University of Michigan Medical School  
2013-2014Juliette Rubin, Animal Behavior;
currently a Coates Postdoctoral Fellow at The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
2011-2013Ross DeAngelis, Neuroscience;
former NSF PRFB Fellow at UT Austin, now enrolled in business school at UT Austin

Summer Undergraduate Interns

2025Sashita Subburaj, B.S. in Biology, UT Austin
2023Michelle Villasana (LSAMP REU), B.S. in Biology, UT El Paso
2022Nhu Nguyen (InSTInCT REU),
B.S. in Biology from UT Austin
2022Paola Annayancy Macario (SUPER REU),
B.S. in Biology from Southwestern Adventist University
2021Marisa Ballard (InSTInCT REU),
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from UT Austin
2021Rebeca Moreno Villarreal (InSTInCT REU),
B.S. in Biology from UT Austin
2019
 		Courtni Foster (SUPER REU),
B.S. in Biology from Howard University
2019
 		Sherley Wang,
B.S. in Computer Science from UT Austin
2018
 		Lance Henderson,
B.S. in Biochemistry from UT Austin
2012
 		Diana Guerrero Salazar,
B.S. in Biology from UC Berkeley
2010
 		Emily Fassi,
now a student in the Northwestern University Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling
2008
 		Jackie Ma,
now at Moss Adams LLP, San Francisco
2005,
2006		Dr. Flora Hinz,
now a postdoctoral fellow in Dan Geschwind lab at UCLA
2005
 		Dr. Kosha Soneji,
now a resident at UCLA Medical School
2002
 		Dr. Helen Liu,
MD
2002
 		Melissa Chu,
high school science teacher

High School Students

2024-2025Celina McCormack, Crockett High School  
2024-2025Lanzo Case, Crockett High School
2022-2023 Xavier Munoz, Crockett High School
2022Sydney Lee, Round Rock High School
2022Claire Payne, Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School
2019Isaac Munoz, Crockett High School
2018Mia Haraguchi, Dripping Springs High School, B.S. in biology from Yale University;
now a graduate student at Rockefeller University
2017-2019Gabriel Rocha, Crockett High School
2016-2017Rosa Garcia, Crockett High School
2016Shivang Singh, Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School
2015-2016Alma Romero, Crockett High School
2015
 		Najah Hussain, Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School
2014-2015Alyssa Trevino, Crockett High School
2013-2015Caleb Ellington, Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School, B.S. from MIT
2013-2014Lia Steinhardt-Keely, Crockett High School
2011-2012Jennifer Gaston, undergraduate at UT Austin
2011
 		Hanna Dörnhofer, Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School, B.S. from Reed College
2011
 		Joshua Stevens-Stein, Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School, B.S. from University of Chicago
2010-2011Seth Robledo, Crockett High School, B.S. from St. Edward’s University
2009-2010Marcos Alvarez,, Crockett High School, B.S. from Texas State University
2009
 		Devan Gartman, Crockett High School, B.S. in biology from Hawaii Pacific University
2008-2009Emily Liljestrand, Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School, B.S. in biology from Rice University
2008-2009Devon Sepeda, Crockett High School, B.S. in physics from UT Austin