Biology

• Office: Carr 609
• Email: s.basu@ufl.edu
• Interests: Conservation genetics for understanding population distributions of wild species, Landscape ecology, metagenomics, understanding techniques and characteristics of whole genome sequencing, studying microbiome diversity in endemic species of wildlife
• Advisor: Charles Baer (opens in new tab)
• Website: Shambadeb Basu

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• Office: _
• Email: becker.a@ufl.edu
• Interests: Botany, plant evolution, systematics, taxonomy, phylogenetics. Evolution of endemic Hawaiian Vaccinium (blueberries): origin and dispersal, subsequent speciation and population movement in diverse biogeographical conditions, examining conditions under which plants have adapted to extreme change rapidly. I am curious to compare morphological and ecological patterns of diversification to a molecular phylogeny of this group, hoping to reveal genetic relationships to local adaptions, exposing drivers of evolution.
• Advisor: Nico Cellinese (opens in new tab)

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• Office: _
• Email: joshua.benjamin@ufl.edu
• Interests: Macroinvertebrates taxonomy and ecology, Fish ecology, heavy metal concentration, aquatic Food web ecology, Climate Change, Biodiversity Conservation and Community ecology.
• Advisor: Amanda Subalusky (opens in new tab)
  

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• Office: 517 Carr Hall
• Email: tbowling2@ufl.edu
• Interests: Modeling shark movement and behavior in relation to bites on humans and environmental changes
• Advisor: Amanda Subalusky (opens in new tab) & Hannah Vander Zanden (opens in new tab)
• Link: Florida Program for Shark Research

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• Office: _
• Email: aliciaboyd@ufl.edu
• Interests: Regeneration, Genomics, and Developmental Biology
• Advisor: Elaine Seaver (opens in new tab)

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• Office: _
• Email: pratush.brahma@ufl.edu
• Interests: Evolution, sexual and natural selection
• Advisor: Colette St. Mary (opens in new tab)

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• Office: FMNH · Dickinson Hall
• Email: s.byrum@ufl.edu
• Interests: Chondrichthyan evolutionary developmental biology and paleontology
• Advisor: Gavin Naylor (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Carr 614
• Email: rsaragocabruno@ufl.edu
• Interests: Sea turtle ecology and physiology and conservation biology
• Advisor: Karen Bjorndal & Alan Bruce Bolten

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• Office:
• Email: bbuchanan1@ufl.edu
  
• Interests: behavioral ecology, conservation behavior, evolution of behavior and coloration, phylogenetics, conservation genetics, wildlife biology and management, ornithology
• Advisor: Rebecca Kimball (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: stevencassidy@ufl.edu
• Interests: Behavioral Ecology, Disease Ecology, and Community Ecology
• Advisor: Nick Keiser (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 617 Bartram Hall / Kawahara Lab
• Email: cinel1@ufl.edu
• Interests: Predator-prey ecology, stress neurophysiology, insect behavior, sensory ecology – hearing, bat-moth interactions
• Advisor: Akito Kawahara (opens in new tab)
• Link: Scott D. Cinel | Graduate Student (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 420 Bartram Hall
• Email: gcobb@ufl.edu
• Interests: Ecological genomics, Evolutionary genetics
• Advisor: Marta Wayne

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• Office: Cancer & Genetics Research Complex – Rm 415
• Email: lcoe@ufl.edu
• Interests: microbial physiology, symbiosis, cross-kingdom interaction, molecular genetics, science identity, science education
• Advisor: Bryndan Durham (opens in new tab)
• Link: Lisa Coe (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 412 Carr Hall
• Email: colonpineiro.z@ufl.edu
• Interests: Ecology, Developmental biology, Disease ecology, Herpetology
• Advisor: Ana Longo (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 614 Carr Hall
• Email: nconstant@ufl.edu
• Interests: Marine ecology, sea turtle biology and conservation, habitat use and foraging ecology of sea turtles, dynamics and sustainability of green turtle grazing in seagrass ecosystems, geospatial analysis, ecosystem-based management
• Advisor: Karen Bjorndal (opens in new tab)
• Link: Nerine Constant

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• Office: FMNH · Dickinson Hall
• Email: mariacortez@ufl.edu
• Interests: Population genetics, phylogenetics and phylogeography
• Advisor: Pam Soltis (opens in new tab)

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• Office: _
• Email: bcummings@ufl.edu
• Interests: _
• Advisor: Gustav Paulay (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Carr 318
• Email: ka.davis@ufl.edu
• Interests: Kate is interested in shifts in ecological ripple effects due to human impact with a special interest in selection pressure caused by invasive species. She received a Bachelors in Zoology and Masters in Ethology at Auburn University, assisting with research in New Mexico, South Carolina, and Eswatini. Before coming to UF, she was an educational Zoologist with The Conservancy of Southwest Florida and The Birmingham Zoo, leading and developing classes, programs, and discussions for the general public about the natural world and conservation
• Advisor: Hannah Vander Zanden

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• Office:
• Email: wdillard@ufl.edu
• Interests: Evolution, Genetics, Vertebrate Morphology
• Advisor: Gareth Fraser (opens in new tab)

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• Office: FMNH – Dickinson Hall
• Email: joshuadoby@ufl.edu
• Interests: Systematics, Biogeography, Phylogenetics, Evolution, Vertebrate Paleontology
• Advisor: Robert Guralnick (opens in new tab)

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Kaushayla Elgiriyewithana
Pronouns: she/her
Degree Program: Ph.D.

• Office: 402 Cancer & Genetics Research Complex
• Email: elgiriyewithanak@ufl.edu
• Interests: Bioinformatics and Genetics
• Advisor: William (Brad) Barbazuk

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Ogonna Eli
Degree Program: MSc

• Office: 310 Bartram
• Email: ogonna.eli@ufl.edu
• Interests: Plant Anatomy and Ecophysiology
• Advisor: Grace John (opens in new tab)

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• Office: _
• Email: enloecm@ufl.edu
• Interests: Conservation genomics, assessment of population structure and geographic variation in Seaside sparrows, avian ecology and conservation, wetland ecology
• Advisor: Rebecca Kimball (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 616 Bartram Hall
• Email: iezukanma@ufl.edu
• Interests: Bryophyte Ecology
• Advisor: Stuart McDaniel (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 
  
• Email: kathrynfeerst@ufl.edu
• Interests: Evolution of early development in polychaetes and, more broadly, in spiralians
• Advisor: Elaine Seaver (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: aflemming@ufl.edu
• Interests: The ecology of fishes, their role and niche in the environment, their life history as well as understanding how form relates to function
• Advisor: David Blackburn (opens in new tab)

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• Office: FMNH – Dickinson Hall
• Email: n.gardner@ufl.edu
• Interests: Ornithology, behavioral ecology, acoustic monitoring
• Advisor: Scott Robinson (opens in new tab) & Robert Guralnick (opens in new tab)

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• Office: BAR 310
• Email: claudia.garnicad@ufl.edu
• Interests: Plant anatomy, functional ecology, tropical ecosystems, serpentine soil
• Advisor: Grace John (opens in new tab)

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• Office: FMNH – Dickinson Hall
• Email: michellegaynor@ufl.edu
• Interests: Botany, evolutionary biology, and polyploidy
• Advisor: Pam Soltis (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 614 Carr Hall
• Email: george.glen@ufl.edu
• Interests: Sea turtle foraging ecology, reproductive biology and population dynamics
• Advisor: Karen Bjorndal

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• Office: FMNH – Dickinson Hall
• Email: gradyerin@ufl.edu
• Interests: Botany, Phenology, Urban Ecology, Community (Citizen) Science, Science Education.
• Advisor: Robert Guralnick (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience – St. Augustine
• Email: lguttieres@whitney.ufl.edu
• Interests: Marine biology, Embryology, evolutionary biology, β-catenin functions in early branching animal phyla.
• Advisor: Mark Martindale (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: ahamersma@ufl.edu
• Interests: Paleobotany, ecology, ethnobotany
• Advisor: Steven Manchester (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 421 Carr Hall
• Email: arikhartmann@ufl.edu
• Interests: Herpetology, Disease Ecology, Conservation Biology
• Advisor: Ana Longo (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: lhendrick@ufl.edu
• Interests: Lepidopteran evolution and conservation
• Advisor: Akito Kawahara (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: dhoughtaling@ufl.edu
• Interests: Lepidopteran evolution and conservation
• Advisor: Chris Dutton (opens in new tab)

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• Office: FMNH · Dickinson Hall
• Email: aditij@ufl.edu
• Interests: Population genetics, biogeography and evolutionary biology
• Advisor: David Reed (opens in new tab)

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Sarah Johnson
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Degree Program: Ph.D.

• Office:
• Email: johnson.s@ufl.edu
• Interests: Impacts of mammals on community dynamics and ecosystem functions, specifically carcass decomposition
• Advisor: Amanda Subalusky (opens in new tab) & Todd Palmer

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• Office: Cancer & Genetics Research Complex – Rm 415
• Email: rebeccakey@ufl.edu
• Interests: Biochemical genetics, microbial ecology, phycology, bryology
• Advisor: Bryndan Durham (opens in new tab) & Stuart McDaniel (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 110 Bartram Hall
• Email:  khanyilelungelo@ufl.edu
• Interests: Phylogenomics, Biodiversity, Evolutionary Biology, Bioinformatics
• Advisor: Nico Cellinese (opens in new tab)
• Website: Cellinese Lab (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 110 Bartram Hall
• Email: s.khare@ufl.edu
• Interests: Community ecology, ecosystem ecology, ecological forecasting
• Advisor: Robert Holt (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 611 Bartram Hall
• Email: tklee@ufl.edu
• Interests: Behavioral Ecology, Evolution, and the influence of Predator-Prey Interactions in fishes
• Advisor: Colette St. Mary (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: skrupar@ufl.edu
• Interests: Florida native epiphytes, evolutionary biology, and climate change
• Advisor: Nico Cellinese (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: lkunselman@ufl.edu
• Interests: Neurobiology, Developmental Biology, Regeneration, and Marine Biology
• Advisor: Elaine Seaver (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 318 Carr Hall
• Email: sarahkurtis@ufl.edu
• Interests: Ecology and evolution of avian plumage coloration, molecular phylogenetics, and population genetics
• Advisor: Rebecca Kimball (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: ashleymeade@ufl.edu
• Interests: Foraging ecology of sea turtles, landscape ecology, and coastal ecosystems
• Advisor: Karen Bjorndal

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• Office: Carr 421
• Email: aileenlavelle@ufl.edu
• Interests: Aileen is interested in sea turtle movement ecology and conservation management. She focuses on using statistical and geospatial modeling to assess the most critical in-water threats to U.S. loggerhead sea turtle populations. She aims to understand the intricate balance between sea turtle habitat utilization and recreational human activities within coastal ecosystems.
• Website: https://people.clas.ufl.edu/hvz/ (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: sz.lee@ufl.edu
• Interests: Evolutionary Biology, systematics, population genetics, sex determination and reproductive modes of sharks
• Advisor: Gavin Naylor (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Cancer & Genetics Research Complex
• Email: lingqinyin@ufl.edu
• Interests: Alternative splicing, comparative genomics, phylogenomics
• Advisor: William (Brad) Barbazuk

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• Office:Florida Museum of Natural History
• Email: ph.liyanagedara@ufl.edu
• Interests: Invertebrate paleontology, Conservation Paleobiology, Paleoecology, Ecology
• Advisor: Michal Kowalewski
• Link to Lab Website: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/kowalewski-lab/
  

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• • Office: 110 Bartram Hall
  • Email: yuanming.lu@ufl.edu
  • Interests: Theoretical Ecology, Invasive Species
  • Advisor: Robert D. Holt

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• Office: 415 Cancer & Genetics Research Complex
  
• Email: lmeke@ufl.edu
• Interests: Metabolomics, Phycology, Bacteriology, Marine Microbiology/Ecology, Marine Microbial Metabolic Pathways, Marine Microbial Interactions through Secondary Metabolites.
• Advisor: Bryndan Durham

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• Office: FMNH · Dickinson Hall 208
• Email: omendez1@ufl.edu
• Interests: Archosaurian evolution, functional morphology, paleobiology, and paleobiogeography
• Advisor: Jonathan I. Bloch (opens in new tab)

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• Office: _
• Email: dorothy.mitchell@ufl.edu
• Interests: _
• Advisor: Mark Martindale (opens in new tab)

• Office: 517A Bartram Hall
• Email: amohr@ufl.edu
• Interests: Genetics, phylogenetics, animal behavior, and evolution (behavioral genetics, evolutionary genetics). Feminist and queer approaches to evolutionary biology, bioethics, history of eugenics, decolonization of science, science communication, history and philosophy of science, promoting diversity in science.
• Advisor: Edward Braun (opens in new tab)

• Office: FMNH · Dickinson Hall
• Email: ldmontalvo@ufl.edu
• Interests: Community ecology, avian ecology, landscape ecology
• Advisor: Scott Robinson (opens in new tab)

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• Office: FMNH · Dickinson Hall
• Email: smmoran@ufl.edu
• Interests: Vertebrate paleontology, mammalian evolution, stable isotope paleoecology
• Advisor: Bruce MacFadden (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email:
• Interests: Plant systematics, species delimitation, hybridization, and biogeography. Current groups of interest include Amorpheae (Fabaceae) and Clematis (Ranunculaceae).
• Advisor: Lucas Majure (opens in new tab)

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• Office: FMNH · Dickinson Hall
• Email: renarducci@ufl.edu
• Interests: Evolution, ecology, and functional morphology of armadillos and their closest relatives, with an emphasis on fossil taxa
• Advisor: Jonathan Bloch (opens in new tab)

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• Office: FMNH – 210 Dickinson Hall
• Email: fnares@ufl.edu
• Interests: Paleobotany, paleoclimate, and paleoecology of the Pacific Northwest
• Advisor: Steven Manchester (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: j.correanarvaez@ufl.edu
• Interests:
• Advisor: Steven Manchester (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 511 Carr Hall
• Email: nicholas.newell@ufl.edu
• Interests: Evolution, genetics, behavior and aging in social insects
• Advisor: Hua Yan

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• Office:
• Email: e.nicklin@ufl.edu
• Interests:
• Advisor:

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• Office:
• Email: c.nolte@ufl.edu
• Interests: Conservation biology, stable isotope ecology, and epibiont communities of sea turtles
• Advisor: Hannah Vander Zanden (opens in new tab)

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Degree Program: Ph.D.

• • Office: 201E Dickenson Hall
  • Email: olsonse@ufl.edu
  • Interests: Vertebrate Paleontology, Functional Morphology, Mammal Evolution
  • Advisor: Jonathan Bloch

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• Email: e.pano@ufl.edu
• Interests: evolutionary biology, phylogeography, genetic diversity, polyploidy
• Advisor: Nico Cellinese
  

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• Office:
• Email: kasey.pham@ufl.edu
• Interests: Plant hybridization genomics, bioinformatics, science art and communication
• Advisor: Doug Soltis (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Laboratory of Systematics & Evolutionary Genetics located within Dickinson Hall
• Email: bharti.parihar@ufl.edu
• Interests: Evo-Devo; Systematics; Phylogenomics & Phylogenetics; Evolutionary Biology/Trait Evolution. Current area of study is the evolution of leaf succulence using Zygophyllaceae as a model system.
• Advisor: Doug Soltis (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 359 Dickinson Hall
• Email: arodpolanco@ufl.edu
• Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Pleistocene Megafauna, Vertebrate Paleontology
• Advisor: Robert Guralnick
  

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• Office: 621 Bartram Hall
• Email: m.rifat@ufl.edu
• Interests: Population Genetics, Quantitative Genetics
• Advisor: Charles Baer (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 217 Carr Hall
• Email: mromanayo@ufl.edu
• Interests: Tecophilaeaceae family, evolutionary biology, systematics, taxonomy, biogeography, phylogenetics, morphology, and plant conservation
• Advisor: John (Gordon) Burleigh

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• Office: Laboratory of Molecular Systematics & Evolutionary Genetics
• Email: fromerosoto@ufl.edu
• Interests: Taxonomy, Biogeography, Phylogenetics, Plant Systematics, Evolutionary biology, Ecological Conservation and Restoration on riparian zones. Current group of interest include Dioscorea (Dioscoreaceae/Monocots)
• Advisor: Pamela Soltis

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Degree Program: Ph.D.

• Office: 521 Bartram
• Email: shagun.sabharwal@ufl.edu
• Interests: Neural circuits, Feeding regulation
• Advisor: Zepeng Yao
• Website: The Yao Lab (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 122 Bartram
• Email: arindam.sarkar@ufl.edu
• Interests:I have a keen interest in the field of systems & synthetic biology, particularly to investigate current predictive tools and novel machine learning-based approaches that aid towards increasing robustness, evolvability and modularity of synthetic gene circuits for biotechnological applications, whilst studying fundamental questions in evolution of gene regulatory networks and population genetics
• Advisor: Juannan Zhou

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• Office:
• Email: ja.scott@ufl.edu
• Interests: Developmental and genomic evolution of digit loss in horses, evolution of cephalapod limb development
• Advisor: Martin Cohn

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Degree Program: Ph.D.

• Office:
• Email: palash.sethi@ufl.edu
• Interests: Genotype-phenotype maps; Machine learning; Large Language Models
• Advisor: Juannan Zhou
• Website: Palash Sethi

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• Office:
• Email: nsewnath@ufl.edu
• Interests: Bioinformatics, Genomics, Phylogenetics
• Advisor: Robert Guralnick (opens in new tab)

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• Office: 511 Carr Hall
• Email: kayli.sieber@ufl.edu
• Interests: I am primarily interested in olfactory development and plasticity in eusocial insects and the impacts of aberrant chemosensory development on social behavior.
• Advisor: Hua Yan

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• Office: FMNH · McGuire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity
• Email: chelseaskoj@ufl.edu
• Interests: Insect behavior, phylogenetics, evolution of anti-predatory defenses
• Advisor: Akito Kawahara (opens in new tab)

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• Office: FLMNH · Dickinson Hall
• Email: annikals@ufl.edu
• Interests: Floral evolution
• Advisor: Pamela Soltis (opens in new tab), Doug Soltis (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Florida Museum of Natural History
• Email: lso2010@ufl.edu
• Interests: Systematics and Paleobiology
• Advisor: Colette St. Mary (opens in new tab) & Robert Guralnick (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience · St. Augustine, FL
• Email: bsteinworth@ufl.edu
• Interests: Development and evolution of cnidarians
• Advisor: Mark Martindale (opens in new tab)

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• • Office: FLMNH – Dickinson Hall
  • Email: se.strickland@ufl.edu
  • Interests: Polyploidy, plant evolution, phylogenetics
  • Advisor: Pam and Doug Soltis (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: k.taylor2@ufl.edu
• Interests: Microbiomes (host-associated and free-living), microbial metacommunities, community ecology, and macroecologoy
• Advisor: Mathew Leibold (opens in new tab)

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• Office: _
• Email: auehling@ufl.edu
• Interests: Biogeography and diversity of marine invertebrates
• Advisor: Gustav Paulay (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Florida Muesum of Natural History. Dickinson Hall
• Email: maria.vallejo@ufl.edu
• Interests: Herpetology, vertebrate paleontology, morphological evolution.
• Advisor: David Blackburn (opens in new tab) & Jonathan Bloch (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: lvinolalopez@ufl.edu
• Interests:
• Advisor:

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• Office: _
• Email: justin.waletich@ufl.edu
• Interests: _
• Advisor: Christine Schnitzler (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Florida Museum of Natural History
• Email: mjw246@ufl.edu
• Interests: Behavioral ecology, conservation biology, and ornithology
• Advisor: Scott Robinson (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email:
• Interests: As an early-stage graduate student, my research interests still spans across a very broad range. When starting off my career as a researcher I was enthusiastic of doing laboratory and field based research on animal physiology and climate resilience. Now my interests are more inclined towards dry lab based bioinformatics, involving evolutionary biology and computational phylogenomics of biological communities.
• Advisor: John (Gordon) Burleigh

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• Office: Florida Museum of Natural History
• Email: swheele2@ufl.edu
• Interests: Ornithology, ecology and conservation, which has lead me to my more specific  interest in elevational migration
• Advisor: Scott Robinson (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience · St. Augustine, FL
• Email: jwhelpley@ufl.edu
• Interests: Evolution of marine invertebrates in the deep-sea, Genome Evolution, Computational Phylogenetics
• Advisor: Joseph Ryan (opens in new tab)

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• Office: Soltis Lab
• Email: elizabethwhite1@ufl.edu
• Interests: Biogeography, conservation, drivers of endemism in the Southeastern United States
• Advisor: Doug Soltis (opens in new tab), Pam Soltis

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• Office: _
• Email: laurenwhitehurst@ufl.edu
• Interests: _
• Advisor: Doug Soltis (opens in new tab)

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• Office: The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
• Email: xu.q@ufl.edu
• Interests: Evolutionary developmental biology, stem cell and regeneration
• Advisor: Christine Schnitzler

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• Office: 305 Dickinson Hall
• Email: wenyi.zhou@ufl.edu
• Interests: Avian mixed-species flocks, tropical ecology, and ornithology.
• Advisor: Scott Robinson (opens in new tab)

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• Office:
• Email: bzumwalde@ufl.edu
• Interests: Plant systematics, phylogenomics, population genetics and conservation
• Advisor: Lucas Majure (opens in new tab)

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