We are delighted to introduce our 2021 graduate student cohort. The warmest of EEB welcomes to the following:
Master’s students
Darene Assadia is a Frontiers Master's student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name “Dah-R-Reen.” Her research interests are sensory biology, plant-insect interactions, migration and behavior. Darene’s advisor is Professor D. André Green. Personal interests include cooking, hiking, makeup and fashion. You can find her on Instagram at @eeb_darene.
Cheyenne Graham is a Frontiers Master's student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name “Shy-anne.” Her research interests are disease ecology, parasite-host interactions and behavior. Cheyenne’s current advisor is Professor Liliana Cortés Ortiz. Personal interests include poetry, hiking, basketball and traveling.
Sorrel Hartford is a Frontiers Master's student who uses the pronouns she/they. She pronounces her name “Soar-ruhl.” Her research interests are in plant ecology and global change, and plant-mycorrhizae interactions. Sorrel’s advisor is Professor Aimée Classen. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, foraging, camping, various arts (film printing, ceramics, illustration, fiber arts), cooking and coffee, music, growing food and biking. She is not using social media right now and says “email me! sorrelh@umich.edu.”
Alice Hill is a master’s student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name “A-liss.” Her research interests are primate social behavior, evolution of cognition and evolution of sociality. Alice’s advisors are Professors Liliana Cortés Ortiz and Thore Bergman. In her spare time, she likes running, reading, hiking (“surprise!”), coffee and chatting. You’ll find Alice on Instagram at @allicerose.
Raquel Pizzardo is a master's student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name Ha-kel. Her research interests in the lab of her advisor, Professor Chris Dick, are plant evolution, biodiversity, diversification, biogeography and the Neotropics. She enjoys reading, cooking and traveling.You can find Raquel on Instagram at @raquelpizzardo and on Twitter at @RPizzardo.
Zulay C. Rodriguez is a Frontiers Master's student who uses the pronouns they/them. They pronounce their name “Su-lie.” Zulay’s research interests are evolution of animal behavior, social structures in organisms and macroevolution. Their current advisor is Professor Liliana Cortés Ortiz. Their personal interests include makeup, fashion, sewing, embroidery and hiking. You’ll find Zulay on Twitter at @zulayumich.
Ph.D. students
Yuxuan Chen is a doctoral student who uses the pronouns he/him/his. He pronounces his name “ye-sean.” Yuxuan’s research interests are experimental evolution and molecular evolution. His advisor is Professor Jianzhi “George” Zhang. In his free time he enjoys chatting with his girlfriend, basketball and trying all kinds of activities for the first time.
Julia Eckberg is a doctoral student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name “joo-lee-uh. Julia’s research interests include plant community ecology, competition and invasion. Her advisor is Professor Nate Sanders. On her own time, she loves to do anything outdoors, movies, sports, play cards and reading. You can find Julia on Instagram at @juleseck25
Matthew Hack is a doctoral student who goes by Matt. He pronounces his name “Mat” and uses the pronouns he/him/his. His research interests are macroecology, biogeography, distributional ecology, global change ecology and ornithology in the lab of his advisor, Professor Ben Winger. In his free time, Matt likes hiking, backpacking, cooking, baking, running, music (listening or playing it!), nature photography and fiction. You can find him on Twitter at @masked_harrier.
Lauren Hart is a doctoral student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. Her research interests are in chemical ecology, spatial distribution of forests, plant-animal microbiome influences, chemical divergence and chemical defense in woody species. Lauren’s advisor is Professor Chris Dick. Her personal interests are soccer, running, coffee shops, gardening, painting and cooking. You can find Hart on Instagram at @laurenhart__ and on Twitter at @laurenhart_98.
Bhaskar Kumawat is a doctoral student who uses the pronouns he/him/his. He pronounces his name “bh ah s k uh r.” Bhaskar’s research interests are evolution, mathematical modeling, complex systems and information transfer in living systems. His advisor is Professor Luis Zaman. Outside of academia, he loves reading (mostly), movies and a little bit of cooking.
Diana Medellín is a doctoral student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name “De-a-nna.” Diana’s research interests are plant evolution, biogeography, systematics, the Neotropics and paramos (high treeless plateau in South America). Her advisor is Professor Christopher Dick. Her personal interests include movies, traveling, running, water (sea, rivers, lakes), pets, plants, ping-pong and Scrabble. You can find Diana on Twitter at @dianamedellinz.
Simone Oliphant is a doctoral student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name “See-moan.” In the lab of Professor John Vandermeer, her research interests include conservation biology, effects of invasive species, habitat degradation, and climate change on botanical systems. On her own time, she likes reading, horror movies, traveling, music, going to parks and really, anywhere near plants and museums. You can find Simone on Instagram at @simonefromja.
Juanita Pardo Sanchez is a doctoral student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name “who-a-ni-ta.” Juanita’s research interests are animal behavior, evolution of cognition and social insects. Her advisor is Professor Elizabeth Tibbetts. She loves running, reading, sewing and yoga. Find Juanita on Instagram at @juanitapardo and on Twitter at @juanita_p_s.
Teresa Sauer is a doctoral student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name “Ter-ee-sah.” Teresa’s research interests in the lab of Professor Meghan Duffy, her advisor, are disease ecology, lake systems and extreme weather. Her personal interests are hiking, painting and ceramics, reading, cooking and swimming. You can find Teresa on Twitter at @TeresaSauer3.
Samuel Stratton is a doctoral student in the lab of Professor D. André Green. Research interests are seasonality, evolution, sensory systems and migration.
Avinash Subramanian is a doctoral student who goes by either Avinash or Avi. He uses the pronouns he/him/his and pronounces his name “A-vee-naa-sh.” His diverse research interests are computational biology, phylogenetics, theoretical ecology and global change as well as statistics, applied math, computing, modeling and applications. His advisors are Professors Stephen Smith and Aaron King. In his spare time, Avinash likes movies and TV shows of all kinds, linguistics and learning languages, cooking, reading, tennis, violin, musicals, tea, coffee and nature activities. You can find him on Instagram at @avisub04.
Diana Carolina Vergara is a doctoral student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name “De-a-nna.” Diana’s research interests include marine organisms evolution, host (corals, mollusks)-microbiome interactions, phylogeography, omics and climate change effects. Her advisor is Professor Thomas Duda. For fun, she loves scuba diving (swimming, or any aquatic activity!), photography, learning languages, dancing and playing soccer. You’ll find Diana on Twitter at @CoralinaDiana.
Olivia Vought is a doctoral student who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. She pronounces her name “Oh-Liv-Ee-Uh.” Olivia’s research interests in the lab of Professor Aimée Classen, her advisor, encompass shoulder seasons, phenology, nutrient cycling and global change. When she has free time, she enjoys hiking, swimming, reading, Frisbee and eating good food. You can find Olivia on Instagram at @olivia_kv and on Twitter at @oliviavought.
Thank you for providing this glimpse about yourselves and we look forward to getting to know you more.
Compiled by Gail Kuhnlein
