Current Students

With approximately 50 students, OEB is large enough to provide opportunities for a wide range of interactions among students, but small enough so that students form a cohesive group. OEB is structured to offer broad, flexible training. Beyond core courses in ecology and evolution, there are few formal course requirements. Instead, each student’s committee tailors a program of coursework to the student’s background and areas of research interests. Students are encouraged to seek extramural funding and publish their research before they complete their degree. Our students have received NSF Predoctoral Fellowships and Doctoral Dissertation Improvements Grants as well as funding from the National Geographic Society, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Lindbergh Foundation and the Switzer Foundation.

OEB students are a diverse and group with broad interests. Students interact with one another through student run seminars and discussion groups, as well as program-wide avenues. Approximately half of our students are women with 4 masters students and 45 doctoral students currently enrolled.

OEB students run a very successful Science Café series designed to engage the broader community in science discourse outside University walls, with a target audience of adult, non-scientific community members. Events take place throughout the academic year. Look under the Outreach tab (above) or click on the Science Café mug (in the right sidebar) to find out more.

Click any student or advisor name to view their directory page.

Adri Grow

PhD Student
Advisor: Laura A. Katz

Alex M. Winsor

PhD Candidate
Research interests: Evolution of sensory systems and behavior

Alexa Hershberger

PhD Student
Advisor: Allison H. Roy

Alysha B. Putnam

PhD Candidate
Research interests: marine ecology, climate change, invasive species, marine invertebrates, marine algae, Gulf of Maine, Long Island Sound, Narragansett Bay, Boston Harbor

Amy V. H. Strauss

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Jeffrey E. Podos
Research interests: Vocal communication & song learning in songbirds

Anna Baynes

PhD Student
Advisor: Allison H. Roy

Cameron Lamphere

MS Student
Advisor: Lynn Adler

Carson Martin

MS Student

Chris Claypool

PhD Candidate
Research interests: Neurocognitive evolution and development in great apes

David Farris

PhD Student
Advisor: Toni Lyn Morelli

Elizabeth J. Rogers

PhD Candidate
Research interests: Animal physiological ecology, migration

Elyse McCormick

PhD Student
Advisor: Lynn Adler

Emelia Kusi

PhD Student
Advisor: Lynn Adler

Evan Grimes

PhD Student

Godwin Ani

PhD Student
Advisor: Laura A. Katz

Jacob R. Barnett

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Ana Caicedo

Jamie Adkins Stoll

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Lisa Komoroske
Research interests: Disease ecology, population dynamics, and global change ecology of marine turtles

João C. T. Menezes

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Jeffrey E. Podos
Research interests: Sexual selection, animal communication, macroevolution, ornithology

John Swenson

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Lisa Komoroske

Jori Barley

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Brian S. Cheng

Josh Medina

PhD Candidate
Research interests: Bird plumage color evolution, 3D digitization of museum specimens through photogrammetry

Josie Pilchik

PhD Student
Advisor: Jenn Fair

Justin Roch

MS Student
Advisor: Lynn Adler

Katherine (Kit) M. Straley

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Paige S. Warren
Research interests: Urban ecology, animal behavior, ornithology, conservation biology

Katie M. Schroeder

PhD Candidate
Research interests: Animal communication, recognition systems, neuroscience, sensory processing

Katrina Zarrella Smith

PhD Candidate NMFS-Sea Grant Population and Ecosystem Dynamics Fellow
Advisor: Adrian Jordaan
Research interests: Movement ecology, the dynamics of fish populations and their responses to a changing environment, and fisheries management

Kimberly Acevedo

PhD Candidate
Advisor: John G. Gibbons

Laura M. S. Hancock

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Jeffrey E. Podos
Research interests: Bat ecology & behavior, population ecology, plant biology, management & conservation of wildlife

Leticja Flamuraj

MS Student

Madison Newman

PhD Student
Advisor: Li–Jun Ma

Margaret Ann Hilliard

PhD Candidate
Advisor: David A. Sela
Research interests: Gut microbiome, human milk, microbial ecology

Matthew Fertakos

PhD Student

Megan Mitchell

PhD Student

Michelle R. Jackson

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Kristina Stinson
Research interests: Invasive plant ecophysiology, global change, and equity in STEM education

Niah Holtz

PhD Student

Rachel Bell Burten

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Jason M. Kamilar
Research interests: Primate ecology and evolution, color evolution, microbiome, biogeography, conservation

Ragib Ahsan

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Laura A. Katz

Rozy Bathrick

PhD Student
Advisor: Nathan Senner

Seanne Reyes Clemente

PhD Candidate
Advisor: Lynn Adler
Research interests: pollinators, secondary compounds, self-medication, chemical ecology

Serina Suzuki

PhD Student
Advisor: Maria Stager

Sonja Glasser

PhD Student
Advisor: Lynn Adler

Stefanie Farrington

PhD Student
Advisor: Allison H. Roy

Thomas Nuhfer

PhD Student

Will Pfadenhauer

PhD Candidate
Research interests: Utilizing spatial technologies to address conservation concerns related to invasive plants