| |
|
Principal Investigator |
|
|
Ana obtained her B.S. in Biology in 1996 at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. She left the lofty peaks of the Andes for the (flatter) environment of the Midwest U.S. to attend graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis; there she studied the population genetics of disease resistance genes in wild tomatoes and received her Ph.D. in 2003. During a postdoc at NC State, she carried out research on the evolutionary genomics of rice domestication and the population genetics of floral timing genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Ana joined the UMass Biology faculty in 2006. Her current research interests include the genetic basis of adaptation, the genomics of plant domestication, and the population genetics of diversification within and between species (CV). |
| |
|
Postdoctoral Researchers |
|
|
Mike received a B.S. in Biology from Antioch College (be ashamed to let it die!) in 1995 and worked in the exciting field of hazardous waste removal for several years before returning to graduate school. He received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 2006 where he studied evolutionary consequences of crop–wild hybridization in sunflowers and rice. Specifically, Mike was interested in how selection, migration and metapopulation dynamics interact to influence introgression of crop alleles. Mike is currently a postdoc in Ana Caicedo’s lab and is working on a project investigating the evolution of adaptation using weedy rice as a model system. |
| |
|
Graduate Students |
|
|
Carrie received her B.S. in biology from Framingham State College in 2005 and her M.S. in biology from SUNY Buffalo in 2007. Her master’s thesis was based on the molecular genetics of Rubisco small subunit genes in Flaveria bidentis. Now a member of the PB Graduate Program at UMass, Carrie has joined the Caicedo lab and is focusing on the evolution of weedy traits in weedy rice. Carrie's interests include crop genetics and genomics, especially grass species used as forage for horses.
|
|
Ian is a first year grad student with a BS in plant biology from the University of Washington Seattle. As an undergraduate he studied and wrote a paper on a Camellia colonial fungus, Seuratia Millardetii. He then rested on these laurels for many seasons before returning to the exciting world of higher education. Hitching a trailer on his car, with his cat sitting shotgun, he set off into the sunrise to find out what New England had to offer. Ian’s westcoast charm and caffeine fueled intellect secured him a place at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and his interest in the processes driving evolution has brought him rotating through the Caicedo lab. Ian’s specific interest is in how interactions between disparate organisms work and how they evolved. |
| |
|
Undergraduates |
|
|
Nicole Eckart
Nicole is a senior Biology major and Spanish minor. She works at the Annual Fund and volunteers at an after school program in Holyoke. After a year researching animal behavior in spiders, Nicole joined the Caicedo lab her junior year to explore the diversity present in Brachypodium distachyon, a new model species for grasses. She took a hiatus during the Spring semester, to study abroad in Accra, Ghana, but is cam back to the lab first as an HHMI summer intern, and then for her honor’s thesis. |
|
Justin Nicholatos
Justin is a junior Biology major and Japanese minor. His great interest in
evolution and genetics led him to join the Caicedo lab, where he is exploring relationships among colored-fruited tomato groups. When not dealing with troubleshooting PCRs, Justin works at the Annual Fund and is an active musician. |
|
Stephanie Craig
Stephanie is a junior biology major. She came to the Caicedo lab to further explore her passion for genetics, and is currently studying the effect of weed evolution on R gene diversity. Outside of the lab, Stephanie volunteers at the Amherst Senior Center and is an active member of the Pre-Med Society. |
|
Sara Weil |
| |
|
Technician |
|
|
Sherin Kanthi P. Jayasundaramudalige
Sherin received her B.S. in Biology in 1987 at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in education too. For many years Sherin was a high school biology teacher. Since immigrating to the U.S., Sherin has been searching to expand her biology research experience. During the summer of 2007, Sherin volunteered in the lab and got some hands on experience in rice phenotyping, DNA extraction, and challenging PCRs.She has now started working in the lab as a techinician. Sherin's knowledge of rice growth and agriculture has proved to be a great resource for all.
|
| |
|
Past Members |
|
|
Neal Kalra
Neal majored in Biology and Anthropology at UMass. He spent a little over a year studying the effects of dam removal at various sites in New England at the "Northeast Instream Habitat Program" under Piotr Parasiewicz. During his year in the Caicedo lab, he investigated tomato fruit evolution and wrangled with exciting PCR and seed germination issues. |
| |
Mario Moreira
After braving Ana’s Population Genetics course his senior year, Mario decided he couldn’t get enough of the subject and joined the lab for a semester of research. During his stint in the Caicedo lab he learned about the joys and challenges of DNA sequence alignment and data management, while exploring the molecular basis of plant height variation in weedy and domesticated rice. |
|
Claudia Rullman
Claudia obtained her B.S. in Natural Resources in 1986 from the School of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. Following extensive research-related and work experience in plant biology, organic agriculture, integrated pest management, marine ecology and aquaponics, she completed an M.S. in Plant Stress Physiology at the University of Vermont in 2003. Claudia worked as a technician in the Caicedo lab during much of 2007. Her career interests include phytoremediation, effects of anthropogenic pollutants on habitat quality, environmental restoration, marine and estuarine ecology. |
|
Mona Salameh
Mona graduated with Latin, Commonwealth College, and departmental honors in Biology as an undergraduate in 2009. She played in the concert band at UMass and was a member of the university ski club. In her junior year, Mona received two HHMI Academic Year internships and one summer internship to carry out research on aromatic rice evolution in the Caicedo lab. In her senior year, Mona was selected to be a part of the prestigious Junior Fellows Program of the Life Sciences program for undergraduate researchers to continue her research in the lab. Mona will now be attending Tufts University School of Dental Medicine where she hopes to attain a DMD/PhD. |
|
Daniela Schmieder
Daniela is a native of Germany, who spent a chock-full year as an exchange student at UMass. Her research experience has ranged from subjects such as plant physiology to animal behavior, and organisms such as rats and A. thaliana , to turtles and (virtually) rice. During her stint in the lab, Daniela aligned and edited sequences of rice resistance genes. Now back in Germany, Daniela hopes to carry out molecular and ecological studies on bats.
|
