Leadership Team

Dr. Tyler Kartzinel | CV​ | ​GoogleScholar
Associate Professor
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island USA

Tyler Kartzinel is the lab’s Principal Investigator, Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at Brown University, as well as a Fellow of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society. Tyler’s research interests revolve around how species interact with each other – predator-prey, plant-herbivore, host-parasite – and why these interactions matter for nature and people. His work combines field ecology, molecular biology, and data science to answer questions that were previously intractable to help solve myriad challenges ranging from global change to biomedicine.
 
The Kartzinel Lab is highly regarded for its work at the nexus of environmental science and biomedicine. In 2017, Tyler was elected Early Career Fellow by the Ecological Society of America for “outstanding contributions at the interface of ecology and molecular biology, and for pioneering use of DNA metabarcoding to elucidate the structure of complex terrestrial food webs.” In 2020 he received an NSF Early Career Fellowship and in 2021 he was awarded a prestigious NSF CAREER award. Tyler’s research has been highlighted in Nature News & Views, PNAS Journal Club, Faculty of 1000, and ranked by Web of Science as “Red Hot” and “Highly Cited.” Kartzinel and his team frequently receive major media attention, including from BBC World Television, PBS NOVA, National Geographic, New York Times, NPR, and others.

Anna Jackson
​Lab Manager

Anna brings to the lab 11+ years of experience in molecular ecology and field research, lab management skills, an MSc in biology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and multiple tours as a member of the Peace Corps. We could not be luckier than to benefit from her leadership and scientific capabilities.

Students & Postdocs

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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Newsha Gheshm, MSc student
Brown Biotechnology MSc student interested in the development and deployment of modern laboratory technologies for applications in conservation and the environment. 

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Abby Grove, 2024 UTRA Scholar
I am interested in ecology and conservation with particular enthusiasm for birds. I am eager to investigate how conservation efforts can be improved to better support the specific needs of local communities and their biodiversity.

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Carson Hedberg, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Polar Programs) and expert in combining paleoecological research with cutting-edge DNA-based dietary analyses of large mammals. 

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Jules Ho, 2024 UTRA Scholar
I am a Brown-RISD Dual Degree student interested in the intersection between illustration, conservation biology, and evolutionary behavioral ecology research. I am especially curious about the identification and quantification of the fitness trade-offs in organisms adapting to changing environments. My personal goal is to raise conservation awareness through research-informed artwork. 

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Hannah Hoff, Ph.D. candidate
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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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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Ava Steger, 2025 UTRA Scholar
I’m interested in terrestrial ecology, especially investigating ecosystem interactions between microorganisms and plants. It's my goal to research microbial mutualism using molecular biology techniques, for the purpose of conservation and sustainability.​

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Montana Stone, Ph.D. candidate
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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Molly Test, Ph.D. student
I am broadly interested in invasive species, biodiversity, and habitat conservation. I incorporate field experiments, molecular biology, and computational approaches to examine diet variation and feeding networks disrupted ecosystems.​

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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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Lab Alumni

Robert Ang'ila, MSc '21, Karatina University
Updates:

• 2023 PhD student at Karatina University
• 2022 REDI-NET: Remote Emerging Disease Intelligence Network at Mpala.

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Eliza Atwood, '24 B.S. Honors, 2023 UTRA Scholar
Updates: 2024 Masters student at UC Irvine

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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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Madeleine Florida, '24 B.S. Honors, 2022 UTRA Scholar, 2023 Caleel Fellow
​Updates: 2025 accepted to vet school!

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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
Updates:

• 2021 Postdoc at the University of Arizona.
• 2023 Scientist at EPA.

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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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Eli Grossman, '24 B.S. Honors, 2023 UTRA Scholar

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Bethan Littleford-Colquhoun, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate, HHMI-Sheridan Course-based Research Experience Instructor
​Updates: 2025 Joined the Faculty at the University of Bath as a Prize Fellow 

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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., honorary lab member in EEB at Brown
​Updates: 2021 NOAA Climate & Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University.

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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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Catherine Porter '20 B.S.
Updates: 2020 grad student in the Haynes Lab at U. Virginia.

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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:

• 2020-2022 Molecular Biologist at Verinomics
• 2022 Accepted admission for a PhD in plant molecular biology at Yale University!!!

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Logan Torres, Brown Presidential Scholars Program Undergraduate Researcher

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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

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Elin Videvall, Ph.D., Swedish Research Council International Postdoctoral Fellow

• Updates: 2024 Swedish Research Council Starting Grant at Uppsala
  
• Website