The Spotlight series was created in 2009 as a way of building camaraderie in our department and as a way of communicating our unique departmental culture to prospective students and visitors. Featuring current graduate students, postdoctoral associates, technical staff, and administrative staff it showcases the broad interests and talent of our many department members. In April of 2015, we launched our first online version.
Archives: 2024 |2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2025 Spotlights
Eric Heinze
July 2025
I am a second year E2G2 PhD student in the Brisson Lab. I study the microevolutionary patterns of the male pea aphid wing dimorphism, a key model system in the study of plasticity and development. I use a combination of population genetics and gene expression analyses to better understand gene regulatory networks and improve our current evolutionary model of pea aphid evolution.
Mikayla Zarr
June 2025
When I was younger, I remember watching and really enjoying nature documentaries. I would also get books on animals, and I think that really sparked my interest in biology, specifically ecology.
Noah Reger
May 2025
I am currently investigating how the histone chaperone Anp32e functions during early development to regulate H2A.Z levels in chromatin.
Josiah Bowers
April 2025
I am currently a technician in the Larracuente Lab, where we study a male meiotic drive system in drosophila called segregation distorter. Most of my day-to-day responsibilities involve maintaining fly stocks and doing general lab chores, but I also get to help out with some of the research in the lab which is a lot of fun.
Brian Kirz
March 2025
I'm a second year PhD student with Prof. Nancy Chen. I'm helping her introduce a new study system to the lab and the field of population genomics: the North American red squirrel. I'm currently assembling its curiously large reference genome - the first step in an effort that aims to sequence a multi-generational dataset of thousands of squirrels. I'm interested in what this new resource might reveal about how fluctuating selection impacts genomic variation and rapid adaptation.
Kaushani Misra
February 2025
I am a second-year graduate student in the Fu lab. My project involves studying particular tRNA modifications like 3-methylcytosine and how that contributes to the tRNA function and stability. Our lab has previously identified a protein (DALRD3) that is involved in performing this modification and mutations in the protein result in loss of the modification that also affects neurodevelopment. I am trying to find the reason and mechanism behind that using tissue culture and mouse models.
Elsa Hahn
January 2025
I work as a research technician in the TropBio lab, where I am collaborating with another researcher on a project that investigates host reproductive and neurological differences due to host and parasite sex. Currently, my research focuses on comparing if male and female Xenos peckii parasites affect the reproduction of their secondary host, male Polistes fuscatus wasps.