Graduate Students
Katelyn Cranmer
Katelyn is a master's student examining seasonal impacts on the cestode community and gut microbiome of shrews in the genus Sorex.
Katelyn is a master's student examining seasonal impacts on the cestode community and gut microbiome of shrews in the genus Sorex.
- Timothy Odom
TJ is a master's student examining seasonal impacts on the diet, cestode community and gut microbiome of shrews in the genus Sorex.
Undergraduate Students
- Sara Cowan
Sara joined the lab during my first semester at Georgia Southern. She helped set up the lab and received a University Undergraduate Research Award that first semester. She continued in my lab for 2 years, including both Summers. Sara worked on multiple projects, but the majority of her work dealt with assembling, annotating and analyzing over 100 cestode mitochondrial genomes. Sara presented her research through an oral presentation at the 2018 American Society of Parasitologists (ASP) Conference in Cancun, Mexico. Sara is now enrolled in the Genetic Counseling master's program at the University of Alabama Birmingham!
- Morgan Gallahue
Morgan completed an Honors project, which was a molecular survey of cercarial samples from Mongolia. In addition to identifying the digenean species present, she also screened the samples for the presence of bacterial endosymbionts in the genus Neorickettsia.
Briana Sesmundo
Briana joined the lab my second semester at Georgia Southern. Briana completed an Honors project, which was a molecular survey of helminths of ground dwelling birds from Alaska. This work included the development of a TaqMan real-time PCR approach for screening tissue DNA extractions for the presence of microfilaria. Briana also received a University Undergraduate Research Award. Briana presented her research at the 2018 ASP Conference in Cancun, Mexico and at the 2019 Southeastern Society of Parasitologists (SSP) Meeting in Athens, GA.
Briana joined the lab my second semester at Georgia Southern. Briana completed an Honors project, which was a molecular survey of helminths of ground dwelling birds from Alaska. This work included the development of a TaqMan real-time PCR approach for screening tissue DNA extractions for the presence of microfilaria. Briana also received a University Undergraduate Research Award. Briana presented her research at the 2018 ASP Conference in Cancun, Mexico and at the 2019 Southeastern Society of Parasitologists (SSP) Meeting in Athens, GA.
Chase Robinson
Chase joined the lab my second semester at Georgia Southern. Chase completed an Honors project, which was an examination of the sucking lice fauna of Mongolian small mammals, including descriptions of 2 new species. Chase presented his research at the 2019 SSP meeting in Athens, GA and at the 2019 Tri Beta National Honors Society District Convention, where he won first place for his poster presentation. Chase will be starting a M.S. in biomedical sciences at the University of South Florida fall 2019.
Chase joined the lab my second semester at Georgia Southern. Chase completed an Honors project, which was an examination of the sucking lice fauna of Mongolian small mammals, including descriptions of 2 new species. Chase presented his research at the 2019 SSP meeting in Athens, GA and at the 2019 Tri Beta National Honors Society District Convention, where he won first place for his poster presentation. Chase will be starting a M.S. in biomedical sciences at the University of South Florida fall 2019.
Ashley Passantino
Ashley joined the lab my second semester at Georgia Southern. Ashley worked on multiple projects, including helping Katelyn with her master's work. Ashley presented her research on the mitochondrial genome and phylogeography of a rodent tapeworm, Hymenolepis folkertsi, at the 2019 SSP meeting in Athens, GA.
Ashley joined the lab my second semester at Georgia Southern. Ashley worked on multiple projects, including helping Katelyn with her master's work. Ashley presented her research on the mitochondrial genome and phylogeography of a rodent tapeworm, Hymenolepis folkertsi, at the 2019 SSP meeting in Athens, GA.
Imani Thomas
Imani joined the lab in the fall of 2018. Imani has worked on multiple projects, including the screening of salmon kidneys from Washington for the presence of digenean metacercariae infected with bacterial endosymbionts in the genus Neorickettsia.
Imani joined the lab in the fall of 2018. Imani has worked on multiple projects, including the screening of salmon kidneys from Washington for the presence of digenean metacercariae infected with bacterial endosymbionts in the genus Neorickettsia.
Taylor Downs
Taylor joined the lab in the spring of 2019. Taylor is working on a project focused on screening salmon kidneys from Washington for the presence of digenean metacercariae infected with bacterial endosymbionts in the genus Neorickettsia.
Taylor joined the lab in the spring of 2019. Taylor is working on a project focused on screening salmon kidneys from Washington for the presence of digenean metacercariae infected with bacterial endosymbionts in the genus Neorickettsia.
Brooke Barringer
Brooke joined the lab in the spring of 2018 and worked on multiple projects looking at parasite biodiversity and evolution. She utilized both classical and modern molecular parasitological techniques. Brooke is currently working as Director of First Impressions & Event Coordinator with Patriot Advantage.
Brooke joined the lab in the spring of 2018 and worked on multiple projects looking at parasite biodiversity and evolution. She utilized both classical and modern molecular parasitological techniques. Brooke is currently working as Director of First Impressions & Event Coordinator with Patriot Advantage.
