Meet the Organizers
Some of the graduate students that run SUTS (Spring 2016). Photo by Ian Wright.
Science Under the Stars was founded and is organized entirely by UT-Austin students in the Ecology, Evolution & Behavior (EEB), Plant Biology (PB), and Cell & Molecular Biology (CMB) graduate programs. While we may have diverse interests in our respective fields, we all have one thing in common: a love of science!
Present members:
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- Julia York [EEB] studies how polar animals sense temperature and how they might respond to climate change. She is originally from Alaska and hopes to work in Antarctica some day.
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- Kyle Wilhite [EEB] is interested in signal evolution and animal communication. He mostly studies sexual selection in a variety of frog species, focusing on body condition and signal integration across multiple signaling modalities.
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- Isaac Miller-Crews [EEB] studies the evolution of social behavior. He researches how neural gene networks regulate reproduction. A native Austinite, Isaac enjoys fishing, hiking, and reading SciFi books. Find more here: https://imillercrews.wordpress.com/
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- Christina Balentine [EEB] studies human anthropological genetics. She is interested in learning how humans survive and thrive in extreme environments (like the cold climates of the Arctic and sub-Antarctic) by studying the DNA and culture/archaeology of ancient and present-day peoples. Find more here: https://cmbalentine.wordpress.com
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- Allison Davis Connelly [EEB] studies animal behavior using a clonal fish. Her research focuses on how these fish change their behavior based on their environment and what this tells us about the evolution and maintenance of sexual reproduction. A New Orleanian at heart, Allison spends her free time cooking all things spicy and longing for the swamps.
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- Emily Javan [EEB] works to help to combat COVID-19 spread through mathematical modeling and data analysis. Currently, she’s interested in understanding COVID-19 patient hospital use and length of stay in Texas. She wants to help hospitals prepare for epidemics and make sure everyone can get the best care year-round. She was a mathematician in CA before coming to UT and loves roller skating with her friends.
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- Britt White [EEB] uses the genetics and appearances of lizards to study the evolution of within species variation. She is interested in understanding how the climate and environment of the past led to this variation and how it may help predict future survival. As a Native New Mexican, Britt loves green and red chile and searching for Southwestern amphibians and reptiles. Find more here: brittawhite.wordpress.com.
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- Brandi Christiano’s [EEB] research focuses on the foraging patterns and decisions of insectivorous and frugivorous bats. She is interested in how female’s nutritional decisions change as they gestate and nurse their offspring.
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- Jeff Coleman [EEB] is broadly interested in evolutionary genetics and genomics. He is currently trying to understand the genetic mechanisms that cause brightly colored and chemically defended poison frogs in the group Epipedobates to take up toxins from their diets into their skin. More about Jeff here: http://cannatellalab.org/authors/jeffrey-coleman/.
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- Caitlin Friesen [EEB] is interested in social behavior, neuroendocrinology, and environmental physiology. Her research examines the effect of the social and physical environment on physiological and behavioral patterns that govern how individuals interact. You can read more about her work here: https://caitlinfriesen.wordpress.com/
Past members:
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- Anne Chambers [EEB] studies the evolutionary history of reptiles and amphibians. She is interested in what genetics can tell us about the evolutionary processes that form species. Anne spends her free time hiking in southern Utah. Find more here: http://www.eannechambers.wordpress.com.
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- Kelly Wallace [EEB] studies cognitive ecology and how behavior influences cognition. She is researching the question “What are the behavioral tendencies of a good learner?” by putting fish through math tests, mazes, and personality tests.
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- Emily Rees [PB] studies plant ecology & plant-animal coevolution. She loves being outdoors, whether that is doing field research or riding her bicycle around Austin. Emily also spends some of her free-time baking, reading sci-fi, and cuddling her two kitties.
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- Emma Dietrich [EEB] is interested in social evolution, microbiology, and behavioral ecology. Emma studies the microbiome and natural history of a social spider in Texas. She also loves baking french macarons. Website: http://arachnidlady.wordpress.com/
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- Rebecca Tarvin [EEB] studies evolutionary biology. She researches how poison frogs avoid poisoning themselves. In general she is interested in how animals adapt to their environments. Website: http://www.rebeccatarvin.com/
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- Decio Correa [EEB] is interested in ecology and herpetology. He studies the bacteria that live in association with frogs and tadpoles. You can read more about his work here: https://www.deciocorrea.com/
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- Andrius Dagilis [EEB] researches the evolution of gene order, chromosomes, and speciation.
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- Nathan LeClear [PB] is interested in botany, systematics, & biogeography. He loves the diversity of plants, and studies the relationships of the genus Jatropha and the evolution of plant diversity in the seasonally dry tropical forests of Mexico.
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- Rachel Wright [CMB] studies ecological genomics. You can read more about her work here: http://rmwright.weebly.com/
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- Gautam Surya [EEB] is interested in evolutionary ecology and conservation biology. Gautam works on bird community evolution and conservation in the Eastern Himalayas.
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- Marie Strader [EEB] researches coral reef genomics and ecology. You can read more about her work here: http://mariestrader.weebly.com
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- Erin Giglio [EEB].
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- Nichole Bennett is a graduate student in Ecology, Evolution & Behavior
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- Andria Salas [EEB].
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- Ashley Green [PB].
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- Olivia Schmidt [EEB].
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- Rong Ma [EEB] studies chemical ecology, behavior, genomics, and social evolution. He is fascinated by the complex system of chemical communication in honey bees, especially in the ways that pheromones influence behavior. Rong enjoys rock climbing, archery, and calligraphy.
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- Stavana Strutz [EEB].
3 responses to “Meet the Organizers”
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- - January 22, 2012
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Science Under The Stars 
Hi,
Don’t know if you’re aware, but several of the links under “More Science” are dead. The meetup I sponsor Nature Nerds is active and you’re more than welcome to list it if you think it suitable. Best wishes.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention! We have updated the links and added Nature Nerds.