Leadership Team

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

Dr. Tyler Kartzinel is an internationally recognized molecular ecologist and Associate Professor at Brown University, where he leads the Genomic Opportunities Lab (GenOps). A Fellow of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Kartzinel is renowned for pioneering research at the intersection of ecology, genomics, and data science. His work explores critical species interactions—such as predator-prey, plant-herbivore, and host-parasite dynamics—and their relevance to global environmental and biomedical challenges. 
 
Kartzinel is celebrated for advancing DNA metabarcoding and genome-enabled approaches in conservation biology. He has been honored with an NSF CAREER award, an NSF Early Career Fellowship, and election as an 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,” Kartzinel's research has been featured by top journals and media outlets, including Nature, PNAS, National Geographic, BBC World, PBS NOVA, The New York Times, and NPR. Web of Science has ranked several of his papers as “Red Hot” and “Highly Cited” for the attention they garnered in the field.

Anna Jackson
​Lab Manager

Anna brings to the lab 12+ 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.

Current Students & Postdocs

Mary Burak, Fullbright Research Fellow (Kenya); Voss Postdoctoral Fellow
Mary is interested in understanding how wildlife persist in multi-use landscapes. Her research uses spatial and molecular ecology to explore how humans impact wildlife, as well as how conservation interventions can mitigate such impacts. Her goal is to broaden the scope of data that is used to design, and support, human-wildlife coexistence landscapes. Most of her work is focused in East Africa.
GoogleScholar

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.

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. 

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

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. 
​Post: Learning from the past to predict the future for cariboiu in Yukon

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

Hannah Hoff, Ph.D. candidate, Blavatnik Family Fellow
Hannah is interested in combining molecular tools and field experiments to increase the specificity of our understanding of community interactions. Specifically, she uses data on diet specialization, plant diversity, migratory behavior, and plant-herbivore feedbacks to explore food web relationships in Yellowstone National Park. 
Story behind the science: Wildlife diets in Yellowstone ​

Sofia Kassalow, 2025 Voss Undergraduate Research Fellow
Sofia is a pre-vet student interested in wildlife conservation and the One Health approach to balancing the well-being of humans, animals, and our shared environments. Her research in mammalian parasitology aims to improve tools for parasite identification in public health and conservation contexts. She hopes to focus on the prevention of zoonotic disease as a future wildlife vet. 

Katya Scott, Honors Student
Katya is passionate about conservation biology, wildlife health, and disease ecology, and is interested in understanding how human activity impacts animal populations and ecosystems. She is especially drawn to the protection of big cat species and wants to contribute to science that informs conservation strategies and fosters ecosystem resilience.​

Ava Steger, 2025 UTRA Scholar
Ava is interested in terrestrial ecology, especially investigating ecosystem interactions between microorganisms and plants. It's her goal to research microbial mutualism using molecular biology techniques, for the purpose of conservation and sustainability.​

Montana Stone, Ph.D. candidate
Montana's research interests include endangered species conservation and developing new tools for local communities. She works with genetic data sets to better define species and their diets to improve captive breeding programs and rehabilitation.
​Award-winning photo from Fray Jorge National park​

Molly Test, Ph.D. student
Molly is broadly interested in invasive species, biodiversity, and habitat conservation. She incorporates field experiments, molecular biology, and computational approaches to examine diet variation and feeding networks disrupted ecosystems.​

Cecilia Trani, Ph.D. student
Post: A new ​a parasite-sleuthing mission
Cecilia Trani holds a degree in Biological Sciences and is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Buenos Aires as a doctoral fellow of the Argentine National Scientific and Technological Research Council (CONICET). Her research focuses on helminths, with particular emphasis on parasite–host–ecosystem relationships. Her main interests include integrative taxonomy, helminth diversity in wildlife, and evaluating the role of domestic cats as potential transmitters and/or reservoirs of zoonotic diseases, using morphological, molecular, and metagenomic approaches.​

Isabel Tribe, 2025 UTRA Scholar
Isabel is interested in the intersection between climate and wildlife conservation. An aspiring climate journalist, she aims to unite her scientific understanding of conservation ecology with communication skills to bring important research to wider audiences.

Ezequiel Vanderhoeven, D.V.M., Ph.D., Argentina National Scientific and Technological Research Council International Postdoctoral Fellow
Ezequiel's interest is in disease ecology at the interface of wildlife and domestic species. He works to identify diseases (viral, bacterial, parasitic) in mammals to understand the social and ecological conditions that could lead to spillover infections that harm humans and livestock.  
Winner: Rufford Fellowship

Kartzinel 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.

---

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

---

Ashley Bang, '19 B.S. Honors.
​Updates:

• 2019 Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan.
• 2020 data scientist at ADM Capital Foundation in Hong Kong.

---

Bianca Brown, '21 Ph.D., NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Updates: 2021 prestigious NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Yale!

---

Penelope Celeste Holland, '23 B.S., 2023 UTRA Scholar

---

Colin Donihue, Voss Postdoctoral Fellow
Updates: 2022 Data Analyst, Brown University Division of Campus Life.

---

Caroline Dressler, '23 B.S. Honors, 2022 Voss Undergraduate Research Fellow, Recipient of 2023 James F. Kidwell Prize in Genetics and Population Biology

---

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

---

Patrick Freeman, '20 Sc.M
Updates: 2021 Staff Scientist at Conservation Science Partners, Inc

---

Dr. Brian Gill, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Updates:

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

Post: Study reveals foraging individuality in elephants

---

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!

---

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

---

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 
[Website]

---

Peter Lokeny, Mpala Research Assistant
Peter led our field operations at Mpala from 2017-2025. 

---

Andy Luo, '23 B.S. Honors 
Updates: 2023 Fulbright Scholarship in Taiwan

---

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.
Post: Conservation genomics of Diamondback Terrapin

---

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.

---

Ian Maywar, 2021-2022 Laboratory Research Assistant
Updates: 2022 entering grad school to study animal movements at Stony Brook!

---

Lindsay McCulloch '21 Ph.D., honorary lab member in EEB at Brown
​Updates: 2021 NOAA Climate & Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University.

---

Fabiola Meyer-Garza '22 B.S., 2021 Voss Undergraduate Research Fellow

---

Camela Moore 2021 Leadership Alliance Undergraduate Researcher, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

---

Natalie Nantais, Laboratory Research Assistant
Updates: 2023 postbac scholar at Brown University.

---

Thomas Patti '22 Sc.B. Honors
Updates: 2022 research intern with Audubon Society Vermont 

---

Diandra Polt, '25 B.S. Honors, 2023 UTRA Scholar

---

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

---

Courtney Reed, '23 Ph.D.
​Updates: 2023 joined Burkepile Lab at UC Santa Barbara.

---

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!!!

---

Logan Torres, Brown Presidential Scholars Program Undergraduate Researcher

---

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​

---

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

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

​Post: Giraffe diet and microbiome linkages in Kenya

---