[\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Sophie” name=”Sophie Plouviez” position=”Post-doctoral research associate” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sophie-Plouviez.jpg” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Sophie is a population geneticist who has specialized in deep-sea invertebrates. Joe met Sophie on a Gulf of Mexico\u00a0SEEP-C<\/a> cruise in 2014, and Sophie joined the lab later that year to work on the population genetics of blue crabs. She now teaches and manages the core facility in the Department of Biology at UL Lafayette.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Tim” name=”Tim Sullivan” position=”Doctoral Fellow” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Tim1.jpg” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Tim joined the Neigel lab in 2012 and received his Ph. D. in 2017. His dissertation was concerned with temporal genetic variation in blue crab settlement and the molecular ecology of blue crab pathogens. Tim was a post-doc in Erica Westerman’s lab<\/a> at the University of Arkansas from 2017-18, where he is investigated genetic variants and patterns of gene expression underlying learned mate preferences, movements, and foraging decisions in the butterfly Bicyclus anynana. <\/em>Tim is now a researcher at the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute<\/a>, where he is developing applications of molecular biology to fisheries ecology and management<\/a>.\u00a0You can learn more about Tim on his site:\u00a0http:\/\/timothyjsullivan.weebly.com\/.<\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Bree” name=”Bree Yednock” position=”Doctoral Fellow, Post-Doc” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/bree.jpg”]<\/p>\n After a few\u00a0warm-up projects (gobies, corals, etc.) Bree developed a dissertation on the population genetics of blue crabs that led to a study of the effects of oil spills on blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus<\/em>) after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Thanks to Bree’s pioneering work, we now have transcriptomes sequenced for both the blue crab and the “lesser” blue crab, C. similis<\/em>, as well as baseline data \u00a0to look at the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on blue crabs in the Gulf of Mexico. After doing a brief post-doc in our lab, Bree landed her dream job as Lead Scientist for the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve<\/a> in Coos Bay, Oregon.\u00a0.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Matt” name=”Matt Starr” position=”Master’s Student” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Snail-cups-2.jpg”]<\/p>\n Matt’s thesis was\u00a0concerned with evolution of slipper limpets in the genus Crepdiula<\/em>. Using molecular evolutionary methods, Matt found evidence for selection on genes involved with stress responses. .Matt was co-advised with Rachel Collin, director of the Bocas Research Station of the Smithsonian<\/em> Tropical Research Institute in Panama.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Brendan” name=”Brendan Cornwell” position=”Master’s Student” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/brendan.jpg”]<\/p>\n Brendan combined brute force with \u00a0elegance by hand-picking hundreds of larvae of the crab Hemigrapsus oregonensis<\/em> from plankton samples, extracting DNA from each with some help Ethel, our temperamental lab robot and then using Taq Man probes to genotype them for a highly informative SNP in the mitochondrial COI gene. His project also involved collecting crabs from the beautiful Sonoma Coast, with stops at virtually every coffee shop between Point Reyes and Jenner. Brendan is now pursuing a doctorate in Rick Grosberg’s<\/a> lab at UC Davis.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Camila” name=”Camila Granados-Cifuentes” position=”Doctoral Student” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Camila2.jpg”]<\/p>\n Camila\u2019s dissertation addressed the timely question of how reef-building corals might adapt to global warming. There are two ways in which coral populations might develop resistance to higher temperatures: changes in the host or changes in the algal symbiont. Camila\u2019s research examined variation in both components. She found that there is considerable baseline variation among individual corals in patterns of gene expression, even before heat stress occurs. Camila also examined the diversity of free-living Symbiodinium<\/em> in reef-associated environments and found the abundances of different types varied among habitats and over time. In addition, Camila developed a new molecular marker (an hsp70<\/em> gene) for resolving relationships among types of Symbiodinium<\/em> and a new PCR method for rapid identification of Symbiodinium<\/em> isolates. Camila is now an Assistant Professor at Baruch College<\/a>, City University of New York.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Kevin” name=”Kevin Purcell” position=”Post-Doc” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Kevin.jpeg”]<\/p>\n Kevin worked with colleagues in CACS (Center for Advanced Computer Studies) and LITE (Louisiana Immersive Technology Enterprise) to develop interactive visualizations of patterns of amino acid replacement on 3D protein structures. Kevin is now Chief Data Scientist at WildFig Data<\/a>, and adjunct professor of analytics at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Joel” name=”Joel Stake” position=”Doctoral Student” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Joel.jpg”]<\/p>\n For his dissertation, Joel tackled the molecular systematics of corals, which turned out to be an incredible challenge, especially since many of the “species” in one of the groups he picked to work on (the genus Porites<\/em>) turned out not to be species (the challenge is convincing traditional coral systematists). Joel is presently a lecturer at Louisiana Tech.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Brian” name=”Brian Mahon” position=”Doctoral Student” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Brian3.jpg”]<\/p>\n Brian took his interest in crustacean molecular systematics beyond using the standard approach\u00a0to find better approaches. He showed that compositional bias produced\u00a0systematic errors in\u00a0decapod\u00a0phylogenies based on mitochondrial DNA, and not content to merely point out the problem, offered the nuclear gene for arginine kinase as \u00a0a robust alternative. Brian is now a professor at Houston Community College<\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Alana” name=”Alana Domingo” position=”Master’s Student” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Alana4.jpg”]<\/p>\n Alana, a native of Panama, learned of our lab from colleagues at the\u00a0Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). After completing an impressive master’s thesis that involved picking hundreds\u00a0of goby larvae from plankton samples and DNA barcoding them, Alana returned to STRI to pursue a Ph.D. on connectivity among reef fish populations.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Lanie” name=”Lanie Bourgeois” position=”Doctoral Student” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Lanie.jpg”]<\/p>\n Lanie studied population structure in thalassinidians, shrimp-like decapods that construct burrows in soft sediments. One of the species she investigated, Callichirus islagrande,\u00a0<\/em>provided a beautiful example of the difference between genetic population structure and phylogeographic structure, illustrating both on surprisingly small spatial scales. Lanie now works as a Research Molecular Biologist at the USDA Honey Bee Lab in Baton Rouge, Louisiana<\/a>, where she is\u00a0developing methods to detect pathogens in bees and investigating the genetic basis of resistance to pathogens.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Bill” name=”Bill Jordan” position=”Post-Doc” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Bill.jpg” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Bill was a member of\u00a0the lab from 1991 to 1993. He tackled\u00a0two very different projects: olfactory receptor genes in Atlantic Salmon and chloroplast gene variation in duckweeds. Both lines of work produced highly-cited papers. After his time with us, Bill moved to Crete for a post-doc at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. In 1995 he joined the Institute of Zoology in London as a research fellow and in 2011 became the theme leader in\u00a0Genetic Variation, Fitness & Adaptability<\/em>. Bill was a great colleague, a talented researcher, a supportive\u00a0mentor and a wonderful friend. Sadly, Bill passed away unexpectedly in 2011. A tribute from his colleague Kate Ciborowski at the Institute for Zoology can be found here<\/a>. Pictured: Joe and Bill (on right) at the London Zoo, August 1999.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Mark” name=”Mark Courtney” position=”Visiting Scientist” image_url=”https:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/markcourtney.jpg” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
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<\/p>![\"Tim1\"](\"http:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Tim1-214x300.jpg\")
<\/p>![\"JoeBeach\"](\"http:\/\/neigellab.agelus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/JoeBeach-278x300.jpg\")
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