People

Nathaniel earned his PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, and trained as a postdoc at the University of British Columbia. He is broadly interested in evolutionary genetics, and particularly the causes and consequences of mutation.

Denise earned a B.S. degree in biology (UW-La Crosse) and a master’s degree in Plant Pathology (UW-Madison). She has worked with fungal and viral plant pathogens of many plant species, but predominantly pathogens of trees. She is interested in evolution of fungal resistance to fungicides and how fungi evolve to maintain pathogenicity. In her spare time, Denise likes to garden, hike, and cross-country ski.

Kevin is a Genetics graduate student interested in studying the impact of mutation on fitness and more generally in understanding the mechanisms of evolution. He has a background in both population genetics and organismic biology having done work on characterizing surface protein evolution in the malaria parasite P. falciparum under Dr. Dan Hartl and understanding elusive elements of the life history of parasitic ascomycota Laboubeniales with Dr. Don Pfister. Kevin is also extremely interested in STEM outreach and education and in his spare time coaches local students for the Science Olympiad Competition.

Rob is A PhD student in the Integrative Biology program who is interested in investigating the roles that sex and recombination play in the mutation rate and spectrum. He has a background in mutation accumulation studies as well as other experimental evolution in C. elegans. He previously studied under the guidance of Dr. Vaishali Katju and Dr. Ulfar Bergthorsson at Texas A&M University where he earned a B.S. in Biochemistry and Genetics.

Jacob is a PhD student in the Integrative Biology program who is interested in studying mechanisms that influence the mutation rate and spectrum of S. cerevisiae. He has a background in evolutionary biology and ecology, having worked with Dr. Michael Angilletta at Arizona State University to investigate genomic signatures of thermal adaptation in Drosophila.