Students
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Emma Berdan  202 Shelford Vivarium (217) 333-2235 |
I study speciation in the bluefin killifish (Lucania goodei) and the rainwater killifish (Lucania parva). (Advisor - Becky Fuller) |
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Moni Berg-Binder 683 Morrill Hall (217) 333-3687 |
I am investigating seed dispersal by native ants of an invasive plant (Euphorbia esula; leafy spurge) in sandy oak savannas in Central Wisconsin. (Advisor - Andy Suarez) |
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Kevin Bilyk 17C Burrill Hall (217) 244-2931 |
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Jennifer Duggan 2020 INHS, 1816 S. Oak |
I am using a combination of occupancy estimation, radio telemetry experiments, and genetic techniques to examine the habitat use and metapopulation dynamics of the state-threatened Franklin's ground squirrel. Additionally, I am testing whether the use of a trained detection dog is a cost-effective and efficient alternative to livetrapping, while conducting surveys for this rare and cryptic species. (Advisors - Ed Heske and Robert Schooley) |
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Ashley Johnson 202 Shelford Viviarium (217) 333-2235 |
I am studying the evolutionary biology of fishes. I am broadly interested in how natural variation is maintained. I have looked at inbreeding avoidance in guppies, signal/receiver evolution in guppies, and color pattern polymorphism in killifish. (Advisor - Becky Fuller) |
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Katie Laskowski 429 Morrill Hall (217) 244-3869 |
I'm interested in understanding the origin and maintenance of variation in consistent individual differences in behavior, using threespine sticklebacks as a model. (Advisor - Alison Bell) |
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Brett Mommer 17C Burrill Hall (217) 333-4245 |
I am interested in the genomic changes responsible for the evolution of antifreeze proteins in Antarctic fish, particularly how and when these proteins arose. (Advisor - Chris Cheng) |
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Brett Olds 491 Morrill Hall (217) 333-8002 |
I am interested in understanding the mechanisms underlying the fitness loss of inbreeding depression by using cutting edge "-omics" methodologies. I plan on investigating the differential expression of genes within inbred lines of Drosophila. (Advisor - Ken Paige) |
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Silvia Remolina 2414G IGB (217) 333-5887 |
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Madhura Siddappaji 490 Morrill Hall (217) 333-8002 |
To understand how plants overcome the herbivory damage. Suite of techniques (QTL mapping, complementation studies, and sequence variation) will be used to understand quantitative and molecular mechanisms of overcompensation (ability of plant to perform better compared to undamaged plants) (Advisor - Ken Paige) |
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Daniel Welsh 202 Shelford Vivarium (217) 333-5323 |
Mate choice and reproductive behavior; what cues and signals bluefin killifish use to choose their mates and how these different signals and cues interact with each other and the environment. (Advisor - Becky Fuller) |
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Bill Wills 683 Morrill Hall (217) 333-3687 |
My research explores how ecology constrains or facilitates the evolution of caste structure and division of labor in social insects. I will examine the significance of body size distributions in ants by analyzing the costs and benefits of worker size versus number tradeoffs in polymorphic ant species (highly variable worker body size). (Advisor - Andy Suarez) |
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Xuan Zhuang 17C Burrill Hall (217) 244-2931 |
Molecular evolution of mitochondial genes in the teleost suborder Notothenioidei (order Perciformes), evolution and functional physiology of NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 in Antarctic notothenioid fishes. (Advisor - Chris Cheng) |