Wild Genomics Alumnae
Mary Akers, M.S.
Mary grew up on the west coast outside of Eugene, OR and spent many hours investigating the tidal pools along the ocean. In high school, Mary was inspired by her high school biology teacher to study population genetics. Mary earned her degree in Marine Science with a minor in Biology at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina. While at CCU, Mary took part in sea turtle nest surveys, plankton trawls, shark fishing trips, and drone surveys of oyster reefs.
After graduation she started as a master's student at West Virginia University where her research focused on genetic evaluations of stocked Lake Sturgeon populations in the St. Louis and Ontonagon Rivers of Lake Superior. In her free time, Mary likes to take care of her plant collection, rock climb, and scuba dive. Mary is now a Lab technician for Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.
Cassia Busch, M.S.
Stephanie Coster, Ph.D.
Stephanie grew up in Maryland on the outskirts of Washington D.C. and since then she’s traveled extensively, visiting 30 countries. She is broadly interested in using genetic techniques to manage and conserve animal populations and has worked with a number of taxa including black bears, frogs, salamanders, elephant shrews (sengis), and bats. She received her B.S. from Trinity University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire. Her research at UNH used non-invasive genetic tagging to estimate the size of black bear populations and landscape genetics to explore how natural and anthropogenic influences impact population structure and gene flow in amphibians.
As a post-doc at WVU, she investigated hybridization patterns and gene expression in King and Clapper Rails. Stephanie is now Associate Professor at Randolph Macon.
Megan Dudenhoeffer, M.S.
Megan then returned to University of Wyoming as a research assistant for the Wildlife Genomics and Disease Ecology lab where she continued developing her skills in wildlife genetics. Megan’s personal and professional interests are similar and rooted in nature, including fishing, hiking, camping, identifying mushrooms and animal poop, and asking questions about natural processes and patterns. She’s now a Biological Science Technician for the Center for Forest Mycology Research with the U.S. Forest Service in Madison, WI. Link to Megan’s personal website: https://megandudenhoeffer.weebly.com/
Isaac Gibson, M.S. (in memoriam)
Isaac obtained a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries at WVU. His Master’s thesis involved researching genetic and morphometric diversity among populations of candy darters (Etheostoma osburni). Isaac was a full time non-game fish biologist for the WV Division of Natural Resources, a job he continued with great passion following completion of his degree. His legacy lives on in the important conservation work that continues to be done for the candy darter.
Yvette Halley-Schultz, Ph.D.
As a Postdoc at WVU, she focused on noninvasive conservation methods using environmental DNA (eDNA) to measure target species and community composition of Appalachian Streams and Wetlands. In her spare time, Yvette enjoys hiking with her dog, biking, reading, and cooking.
Caroline Harms, M.S.
Caroline’s project at WVU involved looking at the state’s fisher (Pekania pennanti) population via genetic analysis to determine population structure and gene flow between nearby fisher populations. While at WVU, Caroline was able to fulfill her other passion: teaching. She taught labs for wildlife techniques and wildlife silviculture courses.
Caroline was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. Proximity to Lake Michigan and forested areas of Michigan sparked her love for the outdoors and all things nature. Caroline also had a personal interest in genetics from a young age, which led her to attend Purdue University to study wildlife and biology with a focus on genetics. Caroline worked in a disease ecology lab at Purdue conducting DNA extractions when she decided she wanted to continue her schooling in the wildlife genetics direction. Immediately after receiving her B.S. in wildlife she started her M.S. at West Virginia University on a population genetics project.Jan-Michael Hessenauer, Ph.D.
Jan is from Detroit, Michigan. He received his bachelors degree from Michigan State University with a major in Environmental Biology/Zoology. He received my masters degree also from Michigan State University in Fisheries and Wildlife. Jan completed his Ph.D. student at the University of Connecticut, advised by Dr. Jason Vokoun, where he studied the population dynamics and genetics of fished and unfished largemouth bass populations. Jan is now a Fisheries Research Biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Meghan Jensen, Ph.D.
As a PhD student at WVU, Meghan worked on a conservation genetics project on her original taxonomic passion: birds of prey. In particular, she studied population structure and gene expression in North American forest hawks (Accipiters). Meghan is now the Raptor Manager at Cornell University.
Brin Kessinger, M.S. (in memoriam)
Brin grew up in Xenia, a city outside of Dayton, Ohio. Throughout middle and high school, science remained her favorite subject. After high school, she pursued her Bachelor of Science degree in Evolution and Ecology with a minor in Fisheries at The Ohio State University. During the summer break of 2015, she completed an undergraduate research project with the USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit at the University of Arkansas on changes in Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) growth rate potential with climate change.
Her Master’s thesis involved investigating the population genetic structure of the endangered Candy Darter (Etheostoma osburni). Outside the lab, Brin enjoyed reading, cooking, hiking, and playing board games.
Jamie Marranca, M.S.
Jamie was raised in Buffalo, NY and attended Rochester Institute of Technology to obtain her bachelor’s in Biology. She has worked in Washington, D.C., northern Virginia, and West Virginia either in animal research or genetics labs on projects pertaining to fish and frogs.
For her M.S. degree, Jamie used genetics to identify the source population for founders of the new lake sturgeon populations on artificial reefs in the St. Clair River.
Lucas Price, Ph.D.
Lucas was born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources from West Virginia University. As an undergraduate, Lucas studied lake sturgeon population genetics in the St. Lawrence River. After completing his B.S. degree, Lucas obtained a master’s degree from Central Michigan University in Conservation Biology. His research involved noninvasive surveys (scat collection and wildlife tracking) to study the usage of roads as travel corridors and genetic population structure of gray wolves in Wisconsin and Michigan.
As a Ph.D. student at West Virginia University, Lucas studied Lyme disease and black-legged tick ecology at Fort Drum Military Installation. As part of this project, Lucas worked to determine past blood meal sources of ticks using genetic techniques. He enjoys spending time outdoors in his free time by fly fishing in the summer and downhill skiing in the winter.
Christi Raines, M.Agr.
Christi grew up in Bay City, Michigan. She completed her B.S. in Biology in May of 2011 at Saginaw Valley State University. During her time at SVSU, Christi participated in five years of undergraduate research involving mid-Michigan waterfowl populations, and studying their levels of diversity using DNA fingerprinting via capillary electrophoresis.
For her Masters work, Christi studied the population genetics of lake sturgeon from Lake Superior. Her research involved using microsatellites in order to assign juveniles to their most likely point of origin.
Celeste Rosencrance, B.S.
Celeste grew up in Grafton, West Virginia and completed her bachelor’s degree in Biology at West Virginia University with a minor in Spanish. As an undergraduate, she worked on her capstone project through the Wildlife and Fisheries Department. Celeste’s research, under Mack Frantz, involved epigenetic research on the Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla).
Celeste worked as a technician in the lab on a brook trout genetics project. Celeste is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at Northwestern University.
Tom Rounsville, Ph.D.
As a Ph.D. student at WVU, Tom investigated the population and landscape genetics of the bobcats of West Virginia. He is now an Assistant Extension Professor at University of Maine.
Tina Whitaker, Ph.D.
Tina grew up in Virginia Beach, Va. She went to Longwood University where she obtained her B.S. in Biology and played lacrosse. She then went on to get her M.S. in Biology from the College of William & Mary in a microbiology lab, which is where she discovered her interest in genetics.
As a Ph.D. student at WVU, Tina worked on a project utilizing next generation sequencing to better understand movements and migration of lake sturgeon. Tina is now an Assistant Professor at Nicholls State University in Louisiana.
Darren Wood, Ph.D.
Darren completed his M.S. degree at WVU where his thesis research was on the effects of culverts on the genetic diversity of wild brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis).
Darren stayed on for his Ph.D. degree, switching to wildlife. His dissertation work focused on the landscape genetics of white-tailed deer in West Virginia and the transmission of chronic wasting disease. Darren is now an Assistant Professor at Grove City College.