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Dr. Tyler Kartzinel (PI)
Peggy and Henry D. Sharpe, Jr. Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology Institute at Brown for Environment & Society Much of my research uses forensic lab tools and field experiments to answer questions about biology and conservation that were previously intractable. I aim to illuminate how species interact with each other - predation, herbivory, competition, pollination, symbioses - why these interactions matter for nature and people, and the ways that understanding interactions can help solve challenges involving global change and biomedicine. CV / GoogleScholar |
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Eliza Atwood, 2023 UTRA Scholar, Honors student
I am interested in the applications of genomic technologies in informing sound conservation management decisions. I plan to utilize data from our recent field season in Yellowstone National Park for a senior thesis that investigates the resolution and sensitivity of current molecular-based diet analysis. In the future, I hope to contribute to wildlife preservation efforts by studying the longevity and robustness of food webs in diverse ecosystems. |
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Mary Burak, Fullbright Research Fellow (Kenya); Voss Postdoctoral Fellow
I am interested in understanding how wildlife persist in multi-use landscapes. My research uses spatial and molecular ecology to explore how humans impact wildlife, as well as how conservation interventions can mitigate such impacts. My goal is to broaden the scope of data that is used to design, and support, human-wildlife coexistence landscapes. Most of my work is focused in East Africa. Website / GoogleScholar |
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Joselyne Chavez, Ph.D. student
Broadly interested in interdisciplinary approaches to studying molecular ecology, exploring diet-microbiome related linkages, understanding species interactions across scales, and applied conservation science. |
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Madeleine Florida, 2022 UTRA Scholar, 2023 Voss Undergraduate Research Fellow, Honors student
My interests include molecular ecology and its applications in conservation biology. In the future, I hope to work in the field of conservation medicine as a research veterinarian. In the lab, I have assisted in the study of plant-herbivore interactions in Yellowstone National Park and now I am leading an Honors thesis focusing on the health and nutrition of sloths at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. |
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Eli Grossman, 2023 UTRA Scholar, Honors student
My current project in the Kartzinel lab focuses on how migration and habitat affect diet-microbiome linkages in Yellowstone National Park’s elk. In the future, I hope to continue exploring how microbial community assembly and responses to disturbance affect how energy and nutrients flow within ecosystems. |
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Hannah Hoff, Ph.D. student
I am interested in combining molecular tools and field experiments to increase the specificity of our understanding of community interactions. Specifically, I will use data on diet specialization, plant diversity, migratory behavior, and plant-herbivore feedbacks to explore food web relationships in Yellowstone National Park. |
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Bethan Littleford-Colquhoun, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate, HHMI-Sheridan Course-based Research Experience Instructor
I combine the interdisciplinary fields of evolutionary ecology, molecular ecology, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), and bioinformatics to better understand how environmental change impacts species’ traits, diet-microbiome linkages, and host health and fitness. Ultimately, my research aims to broaden the approaches traditionally used when designing conservation strategies. GoogleScholar / Twitter |
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Peter Lokeny, Mpala Research Assistant
Peter has over 10 years of research experience at Mpala, and his expertise is crucial to the success of project BASEPAIR in Kenya. Seen here (right) on an expedition to Naivasha, Peter is describing our methods for vegetation surveys and DNA barcoding to a KWS (Kenya Wildlife Services) official. |
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Diandra Polt, 2023 UTRA Scholar
I am interested in why and how some alpine plant species are adapting to climate change and how the food plants available to animals have changed as a result. I am also passionate about increasing access to outdoor spaces, particularly through accessible language and the Brown Outing Club. In the future, I hope to engage citizen scientists from communities of seasonal concessionaire workers as well as avid hunters and anglers in research. |
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Montana Stone, Ph.D. student
My research interests include endangered species conservation and developing new tools for local communities. I work with genetic data sets to better define species and their diets to improve captive breeding programs and rehabilitation. |
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Ezequiel Vanderhoeven, D.V.M., Ph.D., Argentina National Scientific and Technological Research Council International Postdoctoral Fellow
My field of interest is disease ecology at the interface of wildlife and domestic species. I work on identifying diseases (viral, bacterial, and parasitic) circulating in diverse mammals to understand the social and ecological conditions that could lead to spillover infections that harm humans and livestock. |
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Logan Torres, Brown Presidential Scholars Program Undergraduate Researcher
My research interests include using environmental biology to gain knowledge on how to take care of certain species and biomes from suffering due to human impact and other external factors. I am currently helping on the DNA barcode library database project. |
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Elin Videvall, Ph.D., Swedish Research Council International Postdoctoral Fellow
I am interested in understanding how animals and microbes interact and coevolve. My research explores microbiomes and pathogens of wildlife. Some of my research questions evaluate how microbial communities are assembled, how they develop over time, and how they influence their hosts. Website |
Lab Alumni
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Robert Ang'ila, MSc '21, Karatina University
Updates:
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Ashley Bang, '19 B.S. Honors.
Updates: 2019 Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan. 2020 data scientist at ADM Capital Foundation in Hong Kong. |
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Bianca Brown, '21 Ph.D., NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Updates: 2021 began a prestigious NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Yale! Website |
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Penelope Celeste Holland, '23 B.S., 2023 UTRA Scholar
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Colin Donihue, Voss Postdoctoral Fellow
Updates: 2022 Data Analyst, Brown University Division of Campus Life. |
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Caroline Dressler, '23 B.S. Honors, 2022 Voss Undergraduate Research Fellow, Recipient of 2023 James F. Kidwell Prize in Genetics and Population Biology
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Patrick Freeman, '20 Sc.M
Updates: 2021 Staff Scientist at Conservation Science Partners, Inc |
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Dr. Brian Gill, Postdoctoral Research Associate
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Chrishen Gomez, 2020 Visiting Research Associate, 2019 Merdeka Award Grant Recipient
Updates: 2021 Accepted to D.Phil program at Oxford University to continue work on the conservation of Sunda Clouded Leopards! |
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Andy Luo, '23 B.S. Honors
Updates: 2023 Fulbright Scholarship in Taiwan |
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Amanda Lyons '21 MSc, '20 B.S. Honors, 2019 Voss Undergraduate Research Fellow
Updates: Research and Conservation Coordinator at The Wetlands Institute in New Jersey, studying and conserving diamondback terrapins. |
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Molly Magid '19 A.B. Honors, 2018 Voss Undergraduate Research Fellow
Updates: 2019 Fulbright Scholar in New Zealand; 2020 MSc student in conservation genomics at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. |
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Ian Maywar, 2021-2022 Laboratory Research Assistant
Updates: 2022 entering grad school to study animal movements at Stony Brook! |
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Lindsay McCulloch '21 Ph.D.
Updates: 2021 NOAA Climate & Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University. Lindsay is an honorary lab member who joined us from the Porder Lab and whose work focuses on understanding how plants and their soil microbial symbionts influence the biogeochemistry of ecosystems. GoogleScholar / Twitter |
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Fabiola Meyer-Garza '22 B.S., 2021 Voss Undergraduate Research Fellow
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Natalie Nantais, Laboratory Research Assistant
Updates: 2023 postbac scholar at Brown University. |
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Camela Moore 2021 Leadership Alliance Undergraduate Researcher, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
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Thomas Patti '22 Sc.B. Honors
Updates: 2022 research intern with Audubon Society Vermont |
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Courtney Reed, '23 Ph.D.
Updates: 2023 joined Burkepile Lab at UC Santa Barbara. |
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Violet Sackett '20 Sc.B.
Updates:
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Camille Tulloss '21 Sc.B. Honors, Recipient of Senior Prize for Academic Excellence in Biological Sciences
Updates: 2021 Camille is an environmental educator and science communicator |
