The authors of this blog are students enrolled in BIOL 495 Advanced topics in evolution. All of them are graduate students with active research projects.
Michael Hassett – Mike is a first year graduate student in Dr. Timothy Hoellein’s lab working with biogeochemistry and oyster reef restoration in the East River, New York City. He studied abroad in Argentina and Antarctica and earned a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University. Before coming to Loyola, Mike worked with endangered trout species restoration efforts with the Arizona Game and Fish Department and spent a year working for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Warm Springs, GA.
Kayla Turek – Kayla is a first year graduate student in Dr. Timothy Hoellein’s lab. Her research is looking at the direct and indirect effects of the invasive Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) on ecosystem processes in urban streams. Originally from Canfield, Ohio, Kayla received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania. There she studied Conservation Biology with a focus in Wildlife Biology and Behavioral Biology.
Kimberly Greene - Kim is in her second semester as a graduate student at LUC. She is currently working with Dr. Nancy Tuchman and conducting her thesis on the effects of the invasive cattail Typha x glauca on macroinvertebrate communities in Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Prior to coming to Loyola, she graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009 with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Environmental Studies. Kim also worked in a Great Lakes Ecology laboratory at Michigan where she mainly studied zooplankton of the Great Lakes.
Rachel Kooistra-Rachel is a first year graduate student in Dr. Stefan Kanzok’s lab. Her research is on the characterization of a novel protein that is conserved among eukaryotes, specifically focusing on its structure and function in humans. Rachel graduated in 2011 with a B.S. in Biology from Loyola, and is looking forward to a career in healthcare.
Alexandra Ozaki – Alexandra is a first year graduate student in Dr. John Kelly’s microbiology laboratory. Her research investigates the influences of nanotitania on microbial communities in benthic systems. Alexandra graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2011 with a B.S. in Biology with a minors in piano performance and dance, and has researched and studied abroad in Thailand and Costa Rica. She has also worked on the policy side of science at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Lindsay Scarpitta – Lindsay is a first-year graduate student in Dr. Terry Grande’s lab. Her research hopes to use genetics and molecular biology techniques to examine the phylogenetic relationships of fishes in the group Zeiformes. She completed her B.S. in Biology at Merrimack College in Massahcusetts, with a minor in Philosophy. She has also researched the use of DNA microsatellites for the development of a method paternity testing, to be used to study mate selection in Poecilid fishes.
Nicole is a second year graduate student working with Dr. Martin Berg on the effects of temperature on odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) in the Copper River Delta of southeast Alaska. She graduated from Loyola with a B.S. in Biology in 2008. Previous to her graduate career, Nicole worked as a lab technician at Loyola and for the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant program, performing research on state aquatic nuisance species regulations for implementation in an online database.
Chantel Caldwell
Chantel is a second year graduate student in Dr. Martin Berg’s lab. She is currently looking at the effects of temperature on aquatic insect community composition in different vegetation types of ponds located on the Copper River Delta, Alaska. Before coming to Loyola she received a B.S. in Aquatic Biology from Grand Valley State University, completed her undergraduate research in the effects of dam removal on the river ecosystem and worked for Fish and Wildlife.
Meg Malone is a second year graduate student working under the guidance of Dr. Terry Grande and Dr. Martin Berg. Her graduate research is on the application of evolutionary game theory to the secondary invasion of round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) into Wisconsin tributary streams. Meg earned her B.S. in Marine Biology from the College of Charleston, South Carolina. She conducted undergraduate research on acoustic telemetry and dietary analyses of fishes. Before coming to Loyola she worked for the Great Lakes WATER Institute.
Matthew G. Most
Matthew is a second year graduate student working with Terry Grande of Loyola University of Chicago and Rob Carmichael of the Wildlife Discovery Center of Lake Forest, IL. Matthew’s graduate research concerns a population of Eastern Garter Snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis, found on three separate delimited areas of property belonging to the Lake Forest Open Lands Association. He graduated from Loyola with a B.S. in Biology in 2008, with an emphasis in Ecology and took a hiatus from education to pursue other interests. Matthew, however, returned to Loyola University of Chicago in the Fall of 2010 to pursue a Masters of Science and hopes to continue his education and become a Ph.D. candidate.