Biology Directory

Current Biology Graduate Students

Alex Adams / Graduate Assistant

Amir Alayoubi / Graduate Assistant
Office: Az BIO311

My current projects investigate the neuroendocrine mechanisms of behavioral plasticity. Using the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), I am characterizing changes in neuronal activation to explain how prior experiences and genetic lineages shape behavioral patterns.

Ebonne Alexander / Graduate Assistant
Office: Physiology

Harper Appel / Graduate Assistant

Zeyad Arhouma / Graduate Assistant
Office: Micro B124

Mai Awad / Graduate Assistant

Adam Bayless / Postdoctoral Fellow
Phone: (970) 495-2997

Brooke Berger / Graduate Assistant

Disease ecology, quantitative ecology, waterfowl migration.

Conor Bertucci / Graduate Assistant

Sarah Boothby / Graduate Assistant

Kiana Bridges / Graduate Assistant
Office: Physiology

Maria Chavez / Postdoctoral Fellow on Green Roof and Controlled Environment Horticulture

Rebecca Cheek / Ph.D. Candidate
Office: Biology 360

Amanda Cicchino / Graduate Assistant

I am broadly interested in trait evolution, physiology, and conservation. As a PhD student in the Funk lab, I am part of a diverse team working towards uncovering patterns in vulnerability across elevation gradients in tailed frogs.

Kathy Condon / Graduate Assistant

Ph.D. Student in the Knapp Lab interested in plant and ecosystem ecology and legacy effects of drought

Kartik Das / Graduate Assistant
Email:

Cole Deal / Graduate Assistant

PhD Student in Dr. Cory Williams lab studying the neuroendocrine circuits that drive seasonal feeding shifts in ground squirrels.

Matt DeSaix / Graduate Assistant

Kord Dicke / Graduate Assistant

Jessi DiCola / Graduate Assistant

Carina Donne / Graduate Assistant

Nathan Dorff / Graduate Assistant

I am an aquatic ecologist. I use biota (primarily insects) to look at response to disturbance in stream ecosystems. I am particularly interested in "life below the flow" or invertebrates living in the hyporheic zone.

Mel Edwards / Graduate Assistant

Christine Folks / Graduate Assistant

Kyle Fresa / Graduate Assistant
Office: Equine Reproduction Laboratory ERL

Jonah Fronk / Graduate Assistant

Lydia Garner / Research Associate Animal Technician

Olivia Hajek / Graduate Assistant

Elizabeth Harp / Instructor
Phone: (970) 491-5946

Talia Head / Graduate Assistant

Kiara Hodo / Graduate Assistant
Office: Environmental Health Building

Mattie Horn / Graduate Assistant

Monica Kerr / Plant Synthetic Biology Research Associate

Hannah Knox / Graduate Assistant

Chris Kopack / Graduate Research Associate

Daniel Kunk / Graduate Assistant

Casey Lee / Graduate Assistant

Alicia Lenners / Graduate Assistant

Alicia is a Masters student, originally from Beatrice, NE. She graduated with her Bachelors in Environmental Studies, with an emphasis in Biology and Water Science. From 2013-2015, she worked in Paraguay as Peace Corps volunteer, organizing projects in environmental conservation, and from 2017-2020, she worked for the EPA in the Biological and Economic Analysis Division, reviewing pesticide registrations. Now as a student at CSU, her thesis project will focus on studying the recovery of plant communities in the Colorado shortgrass stepp after a four-year extreme drought. Her hobbies include photography, crochet, and collecting musical instruments without actually playing them.

Darya Lilie / Graduate Assistant

Dani Lin Hunter / Graduate Assistant

I am a PhD candidate in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology advised by Dr. Meena Balgopal. My research focuses on how scientists communicate about and carry out citizen science projects.

Mary Linabury / PhD Student

I study pulse/press resource dynamics in grassland plant communities.

Jessie Mader / Graduate Assistant

Emma Magna / Graduate Assistant

Angel McKay Whiteman / Graduate Assistant

I'm a Cell and Molecular Biology M.S. student in the Medford lab engineering Arabidopsis thaliana for directed expression of transcription factors.

Caitlin Miller / Graduate Assistant

My background is diverse, I have previously been involved in disease ecology, conservation, and human disease genetics research. I am broadly interested in climate change, conservation, and genetics.

Gage Mofield / Graduate Assistant

Pardis Mohammad Zadeh / Graduate Assistant

Mel Morado / Graduate Assistant

Devin Mosswood / Graduate Assistant

Kourtney Norman / Graduate Assistant

Sam Ogden / Graduate Assistant

Paige Ostwald / Graduate Assistant

I am a PhD candidate in Cell and Molecular Biology. My research is done in Dr. Garrity's lab where we study embryonic heart development using a zebrafish model.

Josie Otto / Graduate Assistant

Rose Parham / Graduate Assistant

Andrew Paton / Graduate Assistant

Thirs year PhD candidate in the Peers lab studying chlorophyll biosynthesis in diatom algae NSF Graduate Research Fellow TA for BZ415-Marine Biology

Kailee Reed / PhD Student in Cell & Molecular Biology

I am a 3rd year PhD student in the Cell & Molecular Biology Program in Tai Montgomery's Lab. My research interests are focused around regulatory genetic pathways, genomics and computational biology.

Marina Rodriguez / Graduate Assistant

My research integrates telomere dynamics, applied conservation genomics, and evolutionary genomics to better understand the effects of climate change on migratory birds.

Maggie Ross / Graduate Assistant

Michelle Roy / Graduate Assistant

Luke Sanders / Graduate Assistant
Email:

Madison Scheer / Graduate Assistant
Email:

Ari Schlumbohm / Graduate Assistant
Office: Az

Samuel Smith / Graduate Assistant

Clayton Speed / Graduate Assistant
Phone: (970) 491-3877
Office: Mrb 416

Matthew Sturchio / Graduate Assistant

Plant Ecology, Ecosystem Ecology, Plant Ecophysiology. Specifically, the ecological impact of solar energy infrastructure in natural systems

Andy Thompson / Wall Soil Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning Lab Postdoc

Tyler Todd / Graduate Assistant

Greg Tooley / Graduate Assistant

Elke Tukker / Graduate Assistant
Office: Johnson Hall 122F

Gus Waneka / Graduate Assistant

I am interested in evolution of DNA replication/recombination and repair machinery. I study how these mechanisms drive variation between, and within, the three genomes housed inside plant cells: i.e nuclear, mitochondrial, and plastid genomes.

Jessica Warren / Graduate Assistant
Email:

A PhD candidate student in Dr. Dan Sloan's lab studying the effects of mitochondrial gene loss by utilizing new RNA sequencing technologies and a biological system that is undergoing rapid mitochondrial tRNA gene loss.

Beth Wittmann / Graduate Assistant

I am a PhD student in the Garrity Lab whose research centers on diversity, equity, and inclusion in science. I also partner with the Amplify Learning Community at CSU, which is a co-curricular residential community, to support and mentor students with marginalized identities in STEM fields.

DeeDee Wright / Assistant Professor of Experiential Education

After teaching middle and high school science for 25 years, I am taking on a new challenge. I research how teachers use place-based education curriculum to teach ecological concepts.

Lauren Young / Research Associate I
Phone: (970) 491-2019
Office: Az E344

Alia Zieg-Link / Graduate Assistant