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Our Students

Our current students:

Belen Alvestegui
Bolivia
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Pollination of the Andean genus Symbolanthus (Gentianaceae); phylogenetics; evolution of floral diversity in tropical communities.
Contact: bb7n4@umsystem.edu


John Bender
Illinois, USA
Parker Lab

Research Interests: Community ecology, food web dynamics, and species translocations. Work and research has been focused on Guam and Northern Mariana Islands since 2015 in various projects involving restoration ecology.

Contact: jvbgtk@umsl.edu 

Websites: http://www.pacificbirdconservation.org/   http://ecologyofbirdloss.blogspot.com/

 

Raj Prasai
Nepal
Muchhala Lab


Research Interests: Ecology of nectarivorous and frugivorous bats.

Contact: rp2dq@umsystem.edu



Kristen Rosamond
Louisiana, USA
Parker Lab

Research Interests: Microbial ecology, immunology, disease ecology, ornithology, and conservation.

Contact: kmrd3c@umsl.edu 


George Todd
Indiana, USA
Dunlap Lab

Research Interests: Hoverflies, urban ecology, behavioral plasticity, pollination, ecological tradeoffs.

Contact: gt6gr@umsl.edu


Andrea Trigueros
El Salvador
Parker Lab

Research Interests: Avian disease ecology and population genomics in the context of invasion biology.

Contact: actn2v@umsl.edu


Emily Beahm
Missouri, USA
Dunlap Lab

Research Interests: Effects of biopesticides on bumble bee cognition and behavior.

Contact:  eabp4d@umsystem.edu 


Garrett Behrends

Miller Lab

Research Interests: Using molecular techniques to characterize insect diets and species interactions.

 Contact: gjb5fy@umsl.edu 


Helen Clawitter
USA
Parker Lab

Research Interests: Radioimmunoassay and Enzymeimmunoassay methods, animal behavior monitoring, reproductive and stress physiology.

Contact: hlcg2d@mail.umsl.edu 


Lindsey Dennison
Missouri, USA
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Coming soon!

Contact: lrdvf2@umsl.edu


Giulia de Gennaro
USA
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Angiosperm systematics and taxonomy as well as the broader interactions between evolutionary biology and ecology.

Contact: gbdegennaro@mail.missouri.edu 


Sebastian Forward
California, USA
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Evolution of bat and hummingbird pollination in the genus Burmeistera. Currently examining how floral traits such as nectar composition, scent, and color evolve across pollination syndrome shifts.

Contact:  smf3kv@umsl.edu


Becky Hansis-O'Neill
Idaho, USA
Dunlap Lab

Research Interests: Animal cognition and welfare, science communication and outreach, employing digital museum specimens for education and outreach using digital interactives, augmented reality, and virtual reality.

Contact: bhc35@umsl.edu 


Jordan Hathaway
Missouri, USA
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Plant-pollinator interactions within agricultural systems.

Contact: jnhf2m@umsl.edu 

Webster Heffern
Missouri, USA
Olivas Lab

Research Interests: Activity of and evolutionary responses to antimicrobials from the perspective of envisioning segues between viability and unviability. Seeks to find broader ecological parallels of population survival and decline, and diversity vividification versus narrowing in response to stressor levels.

Contact: ewhc77@mail.umsl.edu 


Jeremy Howard
Maryland, USA
Dunlap Lab

Research Interests: Spatial behavior, spatial cognition, spatial memory, navigation, and learning, science and media.

Contact: jeremy.howard@mail.missouri.edu


Erik Johnson

Tobler Lab

Research Interests: Evolution of asymmetrical traits. Current research focuses on how asymmetric traits influence behavior and how they are maintained broadly in livebearing fish. Also interested in how these morphological asymmetries are connected with other traits such as brain structure and gonopodial complexity.

Contact: ej7fq@umsl.edu 


Soren Johnson

Tobler Lab

Research Interests: Evolution of fish in caves, specifically the evolutionary mechanisms leading to gain or loss of traits. More broad interests include ichthyology, evolution, and population genomics. 

Conact: sj6z9@umsl.edu 


Samir Kuinkel

Miller Lab

Research Interests: Thermal tolerance in paper wasps, including passive thermoregulation and metabolic responses to heat, with an emphasis on how nesting behavior and stress response respond to changes in temperature.

Contact: skkdd@umsl.edu 


 

Last Updated: November 2023

 

Recent Alumni:

Serena Achá
Bolivia
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Systematics of Prunus (Rosaceae) and Passiflora (Passifloraceae), species delimitation and geometric morphometry.
Contact: sia7vc@mail.umsl.edu


Dr. Samoa Asigau
Papua New Guinea
Parker Lab

Research Interests: Population genetics and spatial and demographic patterns of mosquitoes in implicating avian malaria in the Galapagos Archipelago.
Contact: ssacn6@mail.umsl.edu


Dr. Rani Asmarayani
Indonesia
Stevens Lab

Research Interests: Systematic study of Asian Piper (Piperaceae).
Contact: rawd5@umsl.edu

Dr. Matthew W. Austin
Missouri, USA
Dunlap Lab

Research Interests: Behavioral responses to anthropogenic environmental change; phenotypic plasticity; bumble bee ecology.
Contact: mwacpb@mail.umsl.edu


Dr. Rachel Brant
Missouri, USA
Dunlap Lab

Research Interests:Native bee behavior, urban ecology
Contact: rabdxd@mail.umsl.edu


Camilo A. Calderon-Acevedo
Colombia
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Bat systematics and evolution, Bat-Plant interactions.
Contact: cackdb@mail.umsl.edu


Dr. Miguel Chaves Fallas
Costa Rica
Marquis Lab

Research Interests: Plant-insect interactions on tropical islands, plant taxonomy, restoration ecology and conservation.
Contact:  chamiguel@gmail.com


Dr. Eva Colberg
Alaska, USA
Marquis Lab

Research Interests: Plant-animal interactions, seed dispersal, myrmecology, fire ecology, tropical ecology and conservation.
Contact:  eva.colberg@gmail.com


Dr. Estefania Fernandez
Bolivia
Marquis Lab

Research Interests: Restoration ecology, tropical forests, bromeliaceae, facilitation cascades and networks.
Contact:  epi.stef@gmail.com


Dr. Andreia Figueiredo
Brazil
Dunlap Lab

Research Interests: Cognitive ecology, animal learning, insect behavior, social behavior, pollination biology.
Contact:  aqtbp@mail.umsl.edu


Dr. Diana Gamba
Colombia
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Biodiversity, biogeography, and evolution of flowering plants (specifically Melastomataceae). Focus in Neotropics, particularly in the Chocó and northern Andes.
Contact: dlgtk5@mail.umsl.edu


Dr. Meghann Humphries
Missouri, USA
Ricklefs Lab

Research Interests: Phylogeography, population genetics, host/parasite coevolution.
Contact:  mhn83@mail.umsl.edu


Jose Antonio Iturrizaga
Peru
Parker Lab

Research Interests: Behavioral ecology and disease ecology in Galapagos hawks.
Contact: jibyc@umsl.edu


Dr. Mari C. Jaramillo
Ecuador
Parker Lab
Research Interests: Disease Ecology of malaria ( Plasmodium) parasites in Galapagos avifauna.
Contact:> mcj6fd@mail.umsl.edu

Alex Laschner-Posner
California, USA
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Evolution of Pollination Syndromes in the genus Burmeistera
Contact: aelwqb@mail.umsl.edu


M. Isabel Loza
Bolivia
Ricklefs Lab

Research Interests: Rarity and beta-diversity of trees of Bolivian forests.
Contact: milwc6@mail.umsl.edu


Dr. Patricia Mendoza Becerra
Peru
Parker Lab

Research Interests: Wildlife trafficking, primate rehabilitation and disease risk.
Contact:  am632@umsl.edu


Dr. Juan Moreira-Hernandez
Costa Rica
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Vertebrate pollination and seed dispersal, plant evolution, ecology of Neotropical bats, biodiversity conservation.
Conact: juan.moreira@gmail.com or jimxx6@mail.umsl.edu


Dr. Fidisoa Rasambainarivo
Madagascar
Parker Lab

Research Interests: Conservation medicine, health and diseases at the human and wildlife interface.
Contact:  ftrz98@mail.umsl.edu 


Dr. Sage Rohrer 
Missouri, USA
Parker Lab

Research Interests: Avian diseases and microbial ecology in Galapagos marine birds.
Contact: sdrq5f@umsl.edu


Dr. Amanda (Yingtong) Wu
China
Ricklefs Lab

Research Interests: Origin and maintenance of biodiversity, the ecology and evolution of species range size, host-pathogen interaction.
Contact: yw3dp@mail.umsl.edu


Emma Young
USA
Ricklefs Lab

Research Interests: Interactions between disease ecology and conservation biology, malaria parasite assemblages, and host/parasite interactions in neotropical birds of Gamboa, Panama.
Contact: emyoung90@gmail.com


Rieka Yu 
California, USA
Muchhala Lab

Research Interests: Pollination in areas of fragmented landscapes, consequences of pollination for plant population genetics.
Contact: rymcf@mail.umsl.edu

Last Updated: November 2023