People

Brant Faircloth (curriculum vitae)

Principal Investigator

Ph.D., University of Georgia, 2008

B.S.F.R., University of Georgia, 2000

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 he is studying the ecological, evolutionary, and genetic factors associated with soft part coloration in different bird species. He is combining image analysis, phylogenetic modeling, and genome sequence to support his research project.

Shubhankar Deshpande

Ph.D. Student

M.S., Fergusson College, 2023

B.S., Fergusson College, 2021

Shubhankar joined the lab during Fall 2024 and we are currently working on project ideas for his research.

Isabelle P. Neylan (website)

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.

Zhiyuan (Jerry) Su

Ph.D. Student

Co-advised by Robb Brumfield

B.S., University of Connecticut, 2024

Jerry joined the lab during Fall 2024 and is studying the Plegadis hybrid zone in Louisiana from both a genetic and phenotypic standpoint. He will be using genome sequencing, genome resequencing, and spectrophotometry to collect data supporting his research project.

K L Vinay

Ph.D. Student

M.S., JSS College of Arts Commerce and Science, 2019

B.S., St. Aloysius College, 2017

Vinay joined the lab during Fall 2023, and he is studying Sialia bluebirds from a phylogeographic and population genetic standpoint. He will be combining different genome sequencing, genome resequencing, and reduced representation techniques to collect data supporting his research project.

Paraskevi (Penny) Lampri (lab page)

Doctoral Student

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

October 2017-April 2018

Penny was a Fulbright Visiting Research Student interested in population genetics and phylogeny of freshwater macro-invertebrate species in the Greek islands.

Roberta Canton, Ph.D. (website)

B.S., Federal University of Amazonas, 2011

M.S., National Institute of Amazonian Research, 2014

Roberta studied the morphology and genetic basis of structural color in Lepidothrix, with a particular focus on Blue-crowned Manakins (Lepidothrix coronata). She combined image analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and genome re-sequencing for her work.

Eamon Corbett, Ph.D.

Rose Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Co-advised by Robb Brumfield

A.B., Harvard University, 2017

Eamon studied the genetic and physical basis for eye color variation in birds using the Boat-tailed/Great-tailed Grackle species complex as a model. He used genome sequencing, genome resequencing, and mass-spectroscopy to collect data supporting his research.

Sashoya Dougan

Post-baccalaureate Researcher

B.S., Rutgers - Camden, 2023

Sashoya was a post-bacc reseracher in the lab who was part of the NSF RaMP-sponsored Louisiana Graduate Network in Applied Evolution (LAGNiAppE) program. Sashoya studied the role of gene regulatory regions in the loss of limbs in Squamates.

Maia Jackson

Undergraduate Student

Maia conducted a study for her Honor's Thesis on the effects of different storage approaches for the extraction of high molecular weight DNA from bird tissues.

Anna E. Hiller, Ph.D. (website)

Co-advised by Robb Brumfield

B.S., University of California, Berkeley, 2014

Anna studied the phylogeography, population genetics, and plumage variation in the flowerpiercers (Diglossa) using historical and contemporary museum samples. She combined genome sequencing, UCE enrichment, genome resequencing, and extensive field collecting to collect data supporting her project.

Kimi Clopton

Molecular Lab Technician

B.S., Louisiana State University, 2019

Kimi was a technician in our lab who was responsible for preparing 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 Honor's 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)

Assitant Professor and Curator of Birds, University of Florida

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.