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Wild Genomics Alumnae


image of darren wood

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 a biology instructor at Washington State Community College in Ohio.


image of Meghan with bird

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 a research scientist with Embark Veterinary.


image of  Tom holding wolf-coyote

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 a Molecular Diagnostic Professional at the University of Maine.


image of Isaac holding fish

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.


image of Lauren holding 2 turtles

Lauren Schumacher, M.S.

Lauren was a research technician at Wild Genomics. While at WVU, Lauren used genetic techniques to assign lake sturgeon captured in Lake Superior to their most likely spawning site of origin. Lauren is now a wildlife forensic scientist in Wyoming.


image of Stephanie with mountains in background

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. Dr. Coster is now an assistant professor at Randolph Macon College.


image of Tina in the woods in the winter

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. Dr. Whitaker is now an assistant professor at Nicholls State University in Louisiana.


image of Christi at plaque

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.


image of Jamie with a fish

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.


image of Lucas holding a fish

Lucas Price, B.S.

Lucas was an undergraduate student at West Virginia University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources. Lucas did a project comparing the genetics of lake sturgeon in the St. Lawrence estuary to the population further upstream in the St. Lawrence River in a more freshwater environment. He is now back pursuing his Ph.D. degree here at West Virginia University.


image of Celeste wuth mountains in background

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 then worked as a technician in the lab on a brook trout genetics project. Celeste is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at Northwestern University.


image of Jan_Michael with a fish

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.