Graduate Students
Note: we have a separate page listing recent graduates.
Advisor: Rafe Brown
Research Interests: Amphibian life history & behavior, Biogeographic patterns
Hometown: Thiruvananthapuram, India
Adviser: Town Peterson
Research interests: Ecological Niche Modeling (Disease Modeling)
Hometown: Tripoli, Libya
Advisers: Rafe Brown and Town Peterson
Research interests: Phylogeography of Central African reptiles
Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri
Advisor name: James Thorp
Research Interests: Food webs, stable isotopes, macrosystem ecology
Hometown: Branford, CT
Advisor: Andrew Short
Research Interests: Systematics of Noteridae (Coleoptera)
Hometown: Alburquerque, NM
Advisor: Bryan Foster
Research Interest: Restoration ecology, phenology, global change, invasive species
Hometown: Nashville, Indiana
Advisor: Dr. Deborah Roan Smith
Research interests: Honey bees (biology, foraging ecology, and beekeeping development), bee systematics, exotic vs. native species competition, and Human and bees (Ethnobiology)
Hometown: Kathmandu, Nepal (till 2009); Toronto, Canada (2010-2013): Lawrence, KS (2013-2018), and Next???
Advisor: John Kelly
Research Interests: Maintenance of flower size variation in Mimulus guttatus; Self incompatibility in Tolpis
Hometown: Spokane, WA
Advisor: Jim Bever
Research Interests: Plant-microbe ecology, mycorrhizal and pathogen influence on plant ecology and community dynamics
Hometown: Irivine, California
Advisor: Joy Ward
Research Interest: Plant responses to anthropogenic change
Hometown: Navarre, Florida
Advisor: Paulyn Cartwright
Research Interests: Invertebrate phylogenetics and evolution, evolutionary developmental biology
Hometown: Silver Spring, Maryland
Adviser: Rich Glor
Research interests: Squamate systematics and biogeography; vertebrate paleontology
Hometown: Houston, TX
Advisor: Town Peterson
Research interests: Ecology, Biogeography, Evolution, Biodiversity informatics
Hometown: Loja, Ecuador
Advisor: Jennifer Gleason
Research Interests: Insect Behavior, Sexual Selection, Behavioral Genetics, Science Communication Outcomes, Undergraduate Biology Education
Hometown: Rockford, IL
Adviser: Richard Glor
Research interests: Biogeography, ecological speciation, ecology, phylogeography, phylogenetics
Hometown: São Paulo, Brazil
Advisor: Town Peterson
Research Interests: Museum and genomics approaches to understand the basis of avian diversity, evolution and behavior. Mechanisms for slowing /preventing the loss of biodiversity (in Sri Lankan ecosystems). Study of bird guilds as ecological indicators.
Hometown: Kandy, Sri Lanka
Advisor: Robert Moyle
Research interests: Avian phylogeography & taxonomy; museum collections growth, development, and use; avifauna of eastern Indonesia
Hometown: Fairbanks, Alaska
Advisor: Jim Bever
Research interests: Tropical Ecology; Mycorrhizal, Plant, and Soil Ecology
Hometown: Pittstown, NJ
Advisor: Bryan Foster
Research Interests: Plant community ecology, plant-pollinator interactions, evolutionary ecology, tallgrass prairie conservation
Hometown:
Advisor: Town Peterson
Research Interests: Biogeography, Phylogenetics and Speciation
Hometown: Kurunegala, Sri Lanka
Adviser: Joy Ward
Research interest: The impacts of rising carbon dioxide from anthropogenic sources on leaf epidermal structures; from a whole leaf level to a molecular scale.
Hometown: Lee’s Summit, MO
Advisor: Bryan Foster
Research interests: Plant Community Ecology; Succession; Stochastic and Deterministic Processes; The Importance of Spatial Components in Ecological Analysis
Hometown: Endicott, NY
Advisor: Town Peterson
Research interest: Biodiversity informatics, distribution ecology, ecological niche modeling
Hometown: Greenville, Liberia
Advisor: Sharon Billings
Research Interest: The Effects of Anthropogenic Change and Climate Change on Terrestrial Ecosystems; in particular Plant Communities, Monitoring and Modeling, Drought Management, Water Resources Management.
Hometown: Mashhad, Iran
Advisor: Leo Smith
Research Interests: Morphological and molecular evolution of carangiform fishes
Hometown: Miami, FL
Advisor: Andrew Short
Research Interests: Morphology, phylogeny, systematics, biodiversity and biogeography of Coleoptera
Hometown: Cali, Colombia
Advisor: Ben Sikes
Research interests: Microbial ecology, soils, microbial response to climate change
Hometown: Brookings, SD
Advisor: Sharon Billings
Research interest: Ecosystems ecology and soil biogeochemistry
Hometown: Athens, Ohio
Adviser: Joy Ward
Research interests: Effects of global change factors e.g. rising carbon dioxide on plant development
Hometown: Homer, Louisiana
Advisor: Rafe Brown
Research interests: Biogeography and Evolutionary Ecology of Southeast Asian Herpetofauna.
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Advisor: Kirsten Jensen
Research Interests: Taxonomy and systematics of elasmobranch tapeworms; host-parasite cophylogeny
Hometown: Delmar, NY
Advisor: Rob Moyle
Research interests: Ornithology, Biogeography, Evolution, Systematics
Hometown: Rolla, MO
Advisor: Benjamin A. Sikes
Research interest: Population Biology, Restoration Ecology, Mycology, Fire Regimes, Plant-Soil Feedbacks
Hometown: Kokomo, Indiana
Advisors: Rafe Brown and Rich Glor
Research Interests: Biogeography, speciation, community assembly, systematics, macroevolution
Hometown: Shawano, Wisconsin
Adviser: Town Peterson
Research Interests: Distributional ecology, Biodiversity conservation, Development of open-access biodiversity informatics resources
Hometown: San Antonio, TX
Adviser: Jorge Soberon
Research Interests: Ecological niche modeling, species distribution modeling, biodiversity, and statistical ecology.
Hometown: Guanajuato, Mexico
Advisor: Chris Beard
Research interests: Bat paleontology and evolution; Mammal evolution and paleobiogeography
Hometown: Wichita, KS
Advisor: Lena Hileman
Research interests: Nectar production; pollination syndromes
Hometown: Olathe, Kansas
Advisor: Amy Burgin
Research interests: Nutrient dynamics in streams and riparian zones
Hometown: Cary, Illinois
Advisors: Mark Mort and Dan Crawford
Research Interests: Plant systematics, biogeography, and population genetics
Hometown: Emporia, KS
Advisor: Rob Moyle
Research Interesets: Phylogeography and population genetics
Hometown: Cambridge, MN
Advisor: Paulyn Cartwright
Research Interest: Cnidarian venom and stinging cell evolution
Hometown: Worthington, Ohio
Advisor: Benjamin A Sikes
Research Interests: mycology, microbial ecology, taphonomy, paleobotany, paleomycology, comparative plant anatomy
Hometown: Alberta, Canada
Advisor: Jim Thorp
Research interests: Macroinvertebrates, aquatic ecology, food webs
Hometown: Rogers, MN
Advisor: Town Peterson
Research interests: Ornithology, Systematics, Biogeography, Evolution
Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela
Advisor: Leo Smith
Research interests: Ichthyology, systematics, evolutionary biology, and phylogenetics/phylogenomics
Hometown: Vadnais Heights, MN
Advisor name: Jim Thorp
Research Interest: Aquatic community diversity and ecology
Hometown: Frostburg, MD
Adviser: Chris Beard
Research interests: The Great Old World Biotic Interchange: mammalian faunal exchange between Africa and Asia at the Oligocene – Miocene boundary; fossil primate systematics; Afrothere systematics
Hometown: Richmond, Kentucky
Adviser name: Ben Sikes
Research interests: Restoration ecology, grassland ecology and conservation, plant-soil interactions, microbial ecology
Home town: Santa Rosa, CA
Advisor: Jamie Walters
Research Interests: Reproductive biology, population genomics, sperm competition, Lepidoptera
Hometown: Jonesboro, GA
Advisor name: Jorge Soberon
Research Interests: Ecology and conservation of Lepidoptera. Ecological Niche Modeling. Biogeography, Biodiversity informatics.
Hometown: Havana, Cuba
Adviser: Fola Agusto
Research Interests: Mathematical Biology - using mathematical modeling approach to gain insight into the epidemiology of some emerging and re-emerging diseases
Hometown: Ibadan, Nigeria
Advisor: Rafe Brown
Research Interests: Phylogeography, population genetics and conservation of mammals
Hometown: Jupiter, Florida
Advisor: Rob Moyle
Research Interests: Avian phylogenomics, avian parasites, biogeography
Hometown: Ambler, PA
Advisor: Amy Burgin
Research interests: Biogeochemistry, ecosystem ecology, aquatic ecology, aquatic-terrestrial interactions, and climate change
Hometown: Ferndale / Detroit, MI
Advisor: James Bever
Research interests: Evolution and persistence of symbiotic relationships; Mycorrhizal fungi; Plant and soil ecology
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Advisor: A. Townsend Peterson
Research interests: Parasitic diseases- Mapping the risk of infectious diseases- Ecological niche modeling applied to Public Health- Spatial epidemiology of vectors of infectious diseases
Hometown: Ecuador
Advisor: Jennifer Gleason
Research Interests: Courtship behavior, communication, signaling, sensory ecology, sexual selection
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Advisor: Lena Hileman
Research Interests: CYCLOIDEA-dependent regulatory network in flower and fruit evolution. History of botany
Hometown: Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Advisor name: Sharon Billings
Research Interests: Soils; biogeochemistry; erosion
Hometown: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Advisor: Rafe Brown
Research interests: Population genetics and phylogeography of chameleons in the Cameroon Volcanic Line
Hometown: Douala, Cameroon
Advisor name: Bruce Lieberman
Research Interests: Invertebrate paleontology, macroevolution, phylogenetics, biogeography
Hometown: Chesapeake, Virginia
Advisor: Richard Glor
Research interests: Evolution of Postmating Reproductive Isolation, Herpetology
Hometown: Havana, Cuba
Advisor: Rafe Brown
Research Interest: Herpetological evolutionary biology, Phylogenetics, Biogeography, Lineage diversification,
Community assemblage.
Hometown:
Advisor: Fola Agusto
Research Interests: theoretical ecology, plant community ecology, plant-soil feedbacks, prairie conservation
Hometown: Washington, IL
Advisor: Rafe Brown
Research interests: systematics, phylogenetics, herpetology, biogeography
Hometown: Gonzales, LA
