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may 2025 - cameron corbett
May’s grad student spotlight features Cameron Corbett, a PhD Candidate in Dr. Craig Barrett’s lab. Cameron's research focuses on an invasive grass species called stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum). Cameron uses herbarium and contemporary specimens to map out invasion history to identify source populations and how genetic diversity has changed over time. Keep up the great work, Cameron!
april 2025 - dr. apoorva ravishankar (alumni spotlight)
This alumni spotlight features Dr. Apoorva Ravishankar, a former member of Dr. Jen Gallagher’s lab. Apoorva’s research at WVU focused on understanding the genomic and transcriptomic landscape of S. cerevisiae when exposed to different formulations of roundup. Apoorva is now a Research Scientist at Melio labs Inc, where she leads projects regarding assay development and molecular microbiology, with the goal of developing an IVD device to identify the cause for sepsis in neonatal patients.
march 2025 - julianne grady (alumni spotlight)
This alumni spotlight features Julianne Grady, a former member of Dr. Steve DiFazio’s lab. Julianne’s research at WVU focused on the reproductive biology of Salix nigra (black willow), specifically investigating pollination syndrome and factors influencing male reproductive success. Julianne is now an Environmental Specialist 2 (401/Isolated Wetland Permitting) at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, where she performs technical reviews of 401 certifications and isolated wetland permits, conducts site inspections and field work involving streams, wetland delineations, and rapid assessments, as well as coordinating with the public, industries, consultants, and various governmental agencies. In the near future, Julianne will have an opportunity to receive her wetland delineator certification.
march 2025 - dr. tyler sizemore (alumni spotlight)
This alumni spotlight features Dr. Tyler Sizemore, a former member of Dr. Andrew Dacks’ lab. Tyler’s research at WVU focused on molecular and cellular mechanisms that promote the brain's ability to adjust how neurons communicate with one another according to one's ongoing needs. Tyler is now a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Yale University, where he studies the genes & neural circuits that drive taste behaviors & feeding decisions.
February 2025 - Dr. melissa lehrer (alumni spotlight)
This alumni spotlight features Dr. Melissa Lehrer, a former member of Dr. Jennifer Hawkins’ lab. Melissa’s research at WVU focused on studying drought response in Sorghum at the phenotypic and genetic levels. Melissa developed a strong understanding of the morphological/physiological responses that tolerant and sensitive genotypes of Sorghum, respectively, use to combat drought stress. Melissa used these findings in another experiment, where a Recombinant Inbred Line (RIL) of Sorghum plants were exposed to drought, ultimately working to uncover the evolutionary origins of drought tolerance. This work was published in Plant Direct (doi: 10.1002/pld3.498) and Plant Biology (doi: 10.1111/plb.13733) – check out those publications to learn more! Melissa is now a Teaching Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, where she teaches courses centered around diverse topics such as Ecology, Foundations of Biology 2, and reading/writing in the sciences for upperclassmen.
January 2025: kaitlyn bailey
January’s grad student spotlight features Kaitlyn Bailey, a master’s student in Dr. Chris Arnold’s lab. Kaitlyn’s research investigates Hox genes with poorly understood involvement in adult tissues. Kaitlyn and the Arnold lab focus specifically on the Hox gene Post2b and its involvement in the regulation of cell fate commitment that gives rise to organs underlying asexual reproduction. Keep up the great work, Kaitlyn!
December 2024: elora shinn
December’s student spotlight features Elora Shinn, a master’s student in Dr. Gary Marsat’s lab. Elora’s research focuses on weakly electric fish and determining how feedback plays a role in cancelling high frequency signals. Elora successfully defended her thesis this month. Great work and congratulations, Elora!
November 2024: Andisheh balouchi
Andisheh Balouchi is a second-year master’s student in Dr. Kevin Daly’s lab. Andisheh previously obtained a master’s degree in animal physiology from Shahid Beheshti University, with his thesis titled “Optogenetic Stimulation of Striatum Protects Against Cerebral Ischemic Reperfusion Injury in Rats”. Andisheh’s current research in the Daly lab focuses on motor coordination circuits, specifically characterizing the functional relationship between a pair of mesothoracic ascending histamine neurons (MsAHNs) and descending neuron 32 form the gnathal ganglion (DNg32) in Drosophila Melanogaster. Keep up the great work, Andisheh!
October 2024: Rachel Morris
Rachel Morris is a PhD student in Dr. Rita Rio’s lab who is investigating symbiont integration through the lens of nutrient provisioning. Rachel works with tsetse fly and Wigglesworthia to paint a story of the coevolution of these two organisms, specifically examining key membrane transporters that work to uphold this symbiosis via mediation of the tsetse-Wigglesworthia nutrient exchange. Rachel recently completed her program of study this past summer. Keep up the great work, Rachel!
September 2024: Cameron Dow
Cameron Dow is a PhD student in Dr. Steve Kannenberg’s lab who is working to understand the environmental drivers of anatomical variation within wood and how that variation affects a tree's response to stress, including drought stress. Cameron’s ultimate goal of advancing understanding in this area will have widespread impacts, benefitting global climate modelers and even small landowners to manage forests to be more resilient to drought. Cameron completed his Program of Study this past spring, and had a successful field season over the summer where he collected 170+ tree cores and avoided any rattlesnake bites! Keep up the great work, Cameron!
February 2024: Sam skibicki
Sam Skibicki is a PhD candidate in Dr. Craig Barrett’s lab who is planning to submit his master’s thesis for publication in Systematic Botany. Sam’s upcoming publication, Phylogenetics, Taxonomy, and Chromosome Number Analysis of Sanvitalia (Asteraceae-Heliantheae-Zinniinae), contains a novel chromosome count of Sanvitalia fruticosa, a species endemic to just two states in Mexico. Sam plans to finish his PhD within the next year. Keep up the great work, Sam!
january 2024: Hannah DeHetre
Hannah DeHetre is a PhD student in the Brzostek lab who studies how plant-microbial interactions in temperate forest soils drive the ability of these soils to sequester carbon from the atmosphere long-term. Hannah’s current projects at the Fernow Experimental Forest and Elizabeth Woods aim to investigate how ecosystem-scale factors such as nitrogen deposition and dominant mycorrhizal association alter these plant-microbial interactions and subsequent ecosystem processes. This research better informs models that predict how forests can act to mitigate climate change. Hannah plans to apply this work toward an upcoming project researching the impact of Beech Bark Disease on carbon and nitrogen cycling in Appalachian soils. Keep up the great work, Hannah!
December 2023: Barrett-Anne Briggs
Barrett-Anne Briggs is a PhD Candidate in Dr. Tim Driscoll's lab. Her research focuses on transcriptomic profiling of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, through its primary tick vector, Ixodes scapularis. She primarily works with Borrelia burgdorferi in culture and in the tick vector to identify novel characteristics that could be potentially used as targets for a future Lyme disease vaccine. Her current experiments involve using novel CRIPSR targets to knockout nutrient acquisition genes within the Borrelia burgdorferi genome. Barrett-Anne was recently awarded the best graduate student poster at the annual WVU Biology Department retreat. Congratulations, Barrett-Anne!
November 2023: Emerson Towey
Emerson Towey is a PhD candidate in Dr. Tim Driscoll’s lab. Emerson’s research focuses on characterizing host cell-specific interactions during spotted fever group Rickettsia infection. They primarily work with Rickettsia rickettsii, a tick-borne pathogen that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). Through the identification of key interactions between R. rickettsii and the various cell types it infects within the human host, their goal is to identify novel targets to aid in the development of an RMSF vaccine. Emerson was recently awarded the best graduate student talk at the annual WVU Biology Department retreat. Congratulations, Emerson!
October 2023: jacob starkey
Jacob Starkey is a PhD candidate in Dr. Eric Horstick’s lab. Jacob has a publication in preprint utilizing previously described zebrafish visuomotor circling behavior to compare teleost species diverged over the past 200 million years, which discovered a strong conservation for biased circling behavior. Jacob’s research also discovered a complete loss of behavior in the blind Astyanax mexicanaus, a species with both naturally sighted and blind variants, but not in experimental blinding of sighted zebrafish or A. mexicanus. Combining this data with an analysis of thalamic responses in sighted and blind fish uncovered two overlapping pathways for visuomotor behavior determination: vision-dependent and vision-independent. Congratulations, Jacob! You can find a preprint of Jacob’s publication here.
September 2023: hana thixton-nolan
Hana Thixton-Nolan is a PhD candidate in Dr. Craig Barrett's lab whose research focuses on mycoheterotrophic orchids. This summer Hana went to Colorado to do a field germination experiment testing the consequences of host specificity, along with an in-depth population study in the Rocky Mountains. Colorado has both varieties of the summer spotted coralroot orchid (Corallorhiza maculata vars. maculata and occidentalis) with variable climate that makes it a perfect study site. You can follow all of Hana’s research adventures on Instagram @han.thixnol_evolvbio.
august 2023: zoe pagliaro
Zoe Pagliaro is a MS student in Dr. Edward Brzostek's lab whose recently published research focuses on oilcane, a genetically modified version of sugarcane designed to enhance fuel conversion efficiency. This research found oilcane did not substantially alter soil carbon dynamics and led to small but significantly greater soil carbon gains than sugarcane, suggesting transitioning to oilcane may enhance the sustainability of the bioenergy feedstock. Congratulations Zoe! Read Zoe’s paper here.
