Post-docs & Graduate Students
Leah Gath
Ph.D. student
Leah joined the lab in the summer of 2023 after receiving a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana. Leah is interested in conservation biology and is currently studying vibrational acoustics in prairie insects.
Dari Gomez
Ph.D. student
Mich joined the lab in the summer of 2023 after receiving a B.S. from Lake Forest College. Mich is investigating the effects of temperature on mate communication with a particular interest in the benefits of female choice.
Em Miller, B.s.
Laboratory technician
Em received her B.S. from Saint Louis University in 2020, where she did her undergraduate research in the lab.
Team treehopper poses with a host plant in the greenhouse. Our lab uses a variety of arachnid and insect study systems, which we maintain in the lab and and greenhouse. Photo: Emily Hutti
Undergraduate students
Past lab members
Post-docs
Daniel Sasson - Assistant Marine Scientist, Marine Resources Research institute, SC Department of Natural Resources
Michael Moore - Assistant Professor, University of Colorado-Denver
Brett Seymoure - Assistant Professor, University of Texas at El Paso
Rowan McGinley - Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Michel Ohmer - Assistant Professor, University of Mississippi
Graduate students
Noah Leith (Ph.D. 2024) - Postdoctoral Fellow in Ecology & Evolution, University of Pittsburgh. NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology (starts 2025), University of California-Berkeley.
Thesis: Eco-physiological interactions between climate and adaptation and the evolution of sexual communication.
Jennifer Mullikin (Ph.D. 2024) - Assistant Scientist, National Great Rivers Research & Education Center.
Thesis: The ecology of pollen specialist bees in urban environments: from the individual to the community.
Anthony Macchiano (Ph.D. 2023) - Postdoctoral Scholar at the USDA
Thesis: Ambient and developmental temperature affects the expression of reproductive traits and mating success in variable thermal environments in Enchenopa binotata treehoppers. (2023 SLU Department of Biology’s Best Thesis Award)
Leticia Classen Rodríguez (Ph.D. 2023) - Environmental Science and Research Program Director, SEEN (SocioEnvironmental and Education Network)
Thesis: Testing the effects of sensory pollutants on arthropod predator-prey dynamics: insights from acoustic and movement ecology. (2023 SLU Department of Biology’s Best Thesis Award)
Dowen Jocson (M.S. 2017) - Ph.D. from Washington State University 2023
Thesis: Temperature affects a wide range of reproductive traits in Enchenopa binotata (Hemiptera: Membracidae) treehoppers. (2018 SLU Department of Biology’s Best Thesis Award)
Undergraduates
Listed from past to present with information on careers if known
Morgan Smeester (M.D. U of Nebraska School of Medicine), Timothy Jeffries (PharmD from St Louis School of Pharmacy), Carli Beckett, Humza Ahmed (M.D. U of Missouri), David Dainko (M.S. program, LMU, Germany), Allie Kemph (Ph.D. program, U of Illinois-Chicago), Pallavi Mhaskar (D.O., Midwestern University), Daniel Lee, Fatma Mufti (Ph.D. program, Saint Louis University), Alex Downey, Emily Scott (M.S., U of Colorado-Denver), Sai Pidatala, Wes Gingrich, Simone Ymson, Evian Perez Rivera (M.D., San Juan Bautista School of Medicine), Rohan Tripathi (M.D. program, Saint Louis University), Claire Ballman, Matthew Udani (D.O. Midwestern University), Shivika Ahuja (M.S. Saint Louis U, M.D. program, Saint Louis U), Noah Leith (Ph.D. program, Saint Louis U), Todd Johnson, Jacob Hercules (M.D. program, U of Missouri), Nabeel Sait (Software Development Engineer, Amazon), Yichen Fang, Aleiyah Dapog (M.D. program, Saint Louis U), Nabeel Sait, Jacob Hercules, Beker Karadaghy (M.D., Saint Louis U), Em Miller, Uchechuwku Agali, Abiosiola Ola-Ajose, Nivedita Biju (M.S. Columbia U, D.O. program A.T. Still U), Rachel Brouk (Geospatial Analyst, Axim Geospatial), Mark Tierney (Ph.D. program, U of Louisville), Lauren Wismann, Kati Prince, Matthew Hilz (Forestry Tech, Glacier National Park), Nandhineswari Senthilkumaran, Jake Woods (Ph.D. program, U of Southern Florida), Asad Siddiqui, Arjun Sahai Sahai, Inaya Smith (Laboratory Technician, Saint Louis U), Lia Rubinelli, Arina Martin, Ellie Redle, Lauren Calvin, Lizzie Ward, Cody Schrock, Kate Frauenheim, Joe Billips, Aliyah Adnan, Chris Garcia, Cathy Taylor, Jolie Larson, Gabriel Cristobal (M.S. student, University of Redding, UK), Roman Touchette, Hebron Bekele, Jared Colbert, Nick Shepphard (U Michigan, class of 2028)