People
Who we are.
Lab Members
Brant Faircloth (curriculum vitae)
Principal Investigator
Ph.D., University of Georgia, 2008
B.S.F.R., University of Georgia, 2008
Brant is interested in understanding how evolutionary history shapes the genetic variation within species and populations and how differences in genetic variation translate into phenotypic differences at the population level. He is also interested in the molecular evolution of gene regulatory regions.
Oluwaseun Akinsulire
Ph.D. Student
B.S., University of Lagos, 2021
Oluwaseun joined the lab during Fall 2023, and we're currently working on project ideas.
Roberta Canton (website)
Ph.D. Candidate
B.S., Federal University of Amazonas, 2011
M.S., National Institute of Amazonian Research, 2014
Roberta is studying the morphology and genetic basis of structural color in Lepidothrix, with a particular focus on Blue-crowned Manakins (Lepidothrix coronata). She is combining image analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and genome re-sequencing for her work.
Eamon Corbett
Ph.D. Candidate
Co-advised by Robb Brumfield
A.B., Harvard University, 2017
Eamon is studying the genetic and physical basis for eye color variation in birds using the Boat-tailed/Great-tailed Grackle species complex as a model. He is using genome sequencing, genome resequencing, and mass-spectroscopy to collect data supporting his research.
Sashoya Dougan
Post-baccalaureate Researcher
B.S., Rutgers - Camden, 2023
Sashoya is a post-bacc reseracher in the lab who is part of the NSF RaMP-sponsored Louisiana Graduate Network in Applied Evolution (LAGNiAppE) program. We are currently working on Sashoya's research plans, and we're very happy to have her in our lab group!
Maia Jackson
Undergraduate Student
Maia is currently conducting a study on the effects of different storage approaches for the extraction of high molecular weight DNA from bird tissues.
Anna E. Hiller (website)
Ph.D. Candidate
Co-advised by Robb Brumfield
B.S., University of California, Berkeley, 2014
Anna is studying phylogeography, population genetics, and plumage variation in the flowerpiercers (Diglossa) using historical and contemporary museum samples. She is combining genome sequencing, UCE enrichment, genome resequencing, and extensive field collecting to collect data supporting her project.
Isabelle P. Neylan (curriculum vitae)
Post-doctoral Researcher
Co-supervised by Morgan Kelly
Ph.D., University of California - Davis, 2023
B.S., Stanford University, 2015
Isabelle is supported by an NSF PFRB study entitled "Mechanisms and evolutionary maintenance of thermal plasticity and adaptation in a splash pool copepod". She will be working in the lab with us to generate and analyze a variety of different genomic data types related to her project proposal.
K L Vinay
Ph.D. Student
B.S., St. Aloysius College, 2017
M.S., JSS College of Arts Commerce and Science, 2019
Vinay joined the lab during Fall 2023, and we're currently working on project ideas.
Visiting Researchers
Paraskevi (Penny) Lampri (lab page)
Doctoral Student
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
October 2017-April 2018
I'm a Fulbright Visiting Research Student interested in population genetics and phylogeny of freshwater macro-invertebrate species in the Greek islands.
Lab Alumni
Kimi Clopton
Molecular Lab Technician
B.S., Louisiana State University, 2019
Kimi is a technician in our lab who is responsible for preparing most of the OpenWings DNA sequencing libraries.
Walid Mohammed
Undergraduate Student
Walid studied the utility of different mediums for room-temperature storage of animal tissues prior to high-molecular weight DNA extraction, and he wrote a senior honors thesis entitled "Investigating preservation methods for high molecular weight DNA analysis".
Caroline Cresson
Undergraduate Student
Caroline studied exactly what makes a bird "blue" by examining differences in the reflectance of blue birds, and she wrote a senior honors thesis entitled "The quantification of blue colors in several species of birds".
Glaucia Del-Rio, Ph.D. (website)
Rose Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Assitant Professor and Curator of Birds, University of Florida (starting 2023)
Co-advised by Robb Brumfield
B.S., University of São Paulo, Brazil, 2011
M.S., University of São Paulo, Brazil, 2014
Glaucia used genomic tools to investigate how Amazonian river headwaters work as drivers of speciation, with a particular focus on Rhegmatorhina. She combined genome sequencing, RAD-seq, genome resequencing, and extensive field collecting for her work.
Jessie F. Salter, Ph.D. (website)
NSF Postdoc at LA County Museum of Natural History
Co-advised by Robb Brumfield
B.A., Occidental College, 2014
Jessie studied the phylogeography, population genetics, and genomics of quails in the genus Colinus. She collected data to support her research using UCE enrichment, RAD-capture, genome sequencing, and genome resequencing.
R. Austin Clark
Undergraduate Student
Austin worked in our group as part of LSU's Future Leaders in Research Program.
Carl H. Oliveros (curriculum vitae)
Postdoctoral Researcher
Ph.D., University of Kansas, 2015
Webpage
Carl's research broadly covers avian phylogenomics, biogeography, and conservation. He used computational techniques to improve species tree inference and divergence time estimation with genomic data and applied these techniques to help understand rapid avian radiations. He also studies biogeographic patterns in Southeast Asia within a phylogenetic framework.
Marguerite (Maggie) Poché
Undergraduate Student
Maggie worked in our group as part of LSU's Future Leaders in Research Program and she completed a senior honors thesis while working in the lab, entitled "Phylogenetic analysis of the toucan family Ramphastidae".
Biannca Williams
Undergraduate Student
Currently completing an MS degree in Medical Genetics and Genomics at Tulane.
Lab Alumni (who never let us take a picture)
- Alex Chase - Assitant Professor, Southern Methodist University(starting Fall 2022)
- Taylor Marcus - currently working at Tulane University
- Andrew Mercante - Enrolled in medical school at LSU HSC