I have mentored graduate students working on a variety of topics. My own work is focused on plants, but through collaborative advising with Field Museum curators and other local experts, students in our group have worked on phylogenetics and population biology of not only plants, but of bats, lichens, birds, millipedes, beetles, bacterial plant pathogens, and frogs.
Robie Mason-Gamer I am interested in phylogenetic analyses of reticulate evolution in plant groups, with experience in the grass family Poaceae, and the sunflower family Asteraceae. I am currently applying targeted sequence capture of nuclear loci to a phylogenetic analysis of the wheat tribe Triticeae.
Natalia Cortes-Delgado Natalia Cortes Delgado is a Ph.D. candidate studying the role of the Andes mountain range in shaping mammalian genetic diversity. She is studying genetic diversity in four species of bats, using sequence data from ultraconserved elements (UCEs). She is co-advised by Dr. Bruce Patterson of the Field Museum of Natural History.
Natalia Ruiz Vargas Natalia Ruiz Vargas is a Ph.D. candidate studying diversification, species delimitation, and speciation in Bromeliaceae, focusing on two groups of Caribbean endemic species. She is analyzing patterns of genetic differentiation within and among closely-related species using data from targeted capture from nuclear loci. Website.
Kyle Reid After earning his Associate Degree in Science at Olive Harvey College, Kyle began his research through a number of fellowships and found a love for field research, ecosystem services, and bat ecology. Kyle has paired this with his passion for environmental education and urban outreach to become an award-winning educator and researcher in his young career. As a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois Chicago, Kyle is monitoring the bat species in the Chicagoland area as they adapt to increased urbanization and disease. Website.
Stefania Briones Stefania is a M.S. student interested in bat phylogenetics, systematics, and evolution. She is focusing her research on bats of eastern Africa, and she is co-advised by Dr. Bruce Patterson from the Field Museum of Natural History, taking part in the Bats of Kenya Project. Website.
Former Lab Members
Graduate Students
Dawson White Ph.D. 2019. Biogeography, diversification, and domestication in the coca family (Erythroxylaceae). Currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow with Dr. Rick Ree at the Field Museum of Natural History. Website.
Todd Widhelm Ph.D. 2019, co-advised with Dr. Thorsten Lumbsch. Phylogenomic systematics of lichenized fungi at multiple taxonomic levels. Currently the Collections Manager for lichens and fungi at the Field Museum of Natural History.
Nick Crouch Ph.D. 2017, co-advised with Drs. Boris Igić and John Bates. The evolutionary ecology of a highly diverse lineage of birds (Telluraves). Currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow with David Jablonski at the University of Chicago. Website.
Mira Markova Ph.D. 2014. Evolutionary dynamics of Pong and Pif transposable elements in the wheat tribe Triticeae (Poaceae). Currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow with Esther Betran at the University of Texas, Arlington.
Michael Jorgensen Ph.D. 2014, co-advised with Dr. Petra Sierwald. Phylogeny and taxonomy of North American euryurid millipedes. Currently an Assistant Clinical Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University.
David Clarke Ph.D. 2013, co-advised with Dr. Margaret Thayer. Monography, phylogeny, and historical biogeography of austral Staphylinid beetles. Currently a Lecturer at the University of Memphis.
Diane McCarthy Ph.D. 2012. Systematics and phylogeography of the genus Tilia in North America. Currently a Research Proposal Coordinator for the Department of Biology, Colorado State University.
Eimy Rivas Plata Ph.D. 2011, co-advised with Dr. Thorsten Lumbsch. Historical biogeography, ecology, and systematics of the family Graphidaceae (Lichenized Ascomycota: Ostropales). Currently a special education teacher at Frank Porter Graham Elementary School, Durham NC.
George K. Mugambi Ph.D. 2009, co-advised with Sabine Huhndorf. East African biodiversity and molecular systematics of wood inhabiting Ascomycete fungi (Ascomycota). Currently a Researcher/Faculty Member at Meru University of Science and Technology, Kenya.
Marianna Naum Ph.D. 2007. Phylogenetic characterization of Erwinia, Brenneria, and Pectobacterium (Enterobacteriaceae). Currently a Policy Analyst at the Food and Drug Administration.
Melissa Burns M.S. 2007. Population biology and phylogeography of six endemic frog species of Madagascar (Mantellidae: Mantidactylus).