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Dr. Demian Willette |
LAB MEMBERS
Rosetta Yi Fan Hu
Rosetta joined the lab in 2021. She is a senior Computer Science major whose research aims to develop a flexible Graphic User Interface for visualizing eDNA metabarcoding data.
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Sabriya Seid
Sabriya joined the lab in 2021. She is a sophomore Biology major whose current research focuses on early life history germination and survival of native Southern California black walnut seedlings.
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Donya Moghtader
Donya joined the lab in Spring 2022 and is a senior in Biology. She currently works on testing the utility of brush piles on the restoration of native animal biodiversity.
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Kelli Andrade
Kelli joined the lab in 2022 and is a senior Environmental Science major. Kelli’s research is on seafood mislabeling at the end of the supply chain.
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Anushka Brito
Anuskha joined the lab in 2022 and recently graduated from LMU in International Studies. Anushka collaborates with the lab in research on the potential role of emerging genetic tools in combating illegal fishing and modern slavery at sea.
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Lauren Fabre
Lauren joined the lab in 2022. She is a freshmen Biology major and is working on optimizing eDNA field sampling methods in the lab.
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Aria Fulton
Aria is a Junior Biology major. Aria joined the lab in 2022 and is collaborating on optimizing eDNA field sampling methods.
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Ashley Lee
Ashley joined the lab in 2022 and her research focuses on testing methods for more effective eDNA sampling.
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Yana Makievskaya
Yana joined the lab in 2022 and is collaborating on the black walnut seed germination experiments under varying temperature treatments. Yana is a Senior in Biology.
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Lauren Quesada
Lo joined the lab in 2022 and is a senior in Biology. Lo leads research on eDNA metabarcoding and how it can be used as a monitoring tool to help detect the presence of endangered horseshoe crab species in Yucatan octopus' fisheries in Mexico.
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PAST LAB MEMBERS
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Rukhbaan Hayer
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Hovsep Oganesyan |
Evie Chokler |
Rukhbaan was in the lab from 2020-2022. His work included examining seed germination rates of northern California black walnut trees and medicinal properties of native California plants.
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Hovsep joined the lab in 2022 and is in LMU’s post-bac program. He is part of the team working on analyzing 10 years of sushi genetic data collected from LA restaurants since 2012.
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Lab member 2020-2022. Evie worked with Rukhbaan and Evan on developing an assay to quantify the tumor suppressing capacity of extracts from the medicinal plan Leonurus japonicus.
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Evan Shen
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Amberly Hershewe
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Lab member 2020-2022. Evan works on seed germination of the northern California black walnut with Rukhbaan and has done recent work on rhizobacteria with Dr. Michelle Lum’s lab at LMU.
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Lab member 2021-2022. Amberly work builds on the lab’s earlier work by Stacy and Anna to genetically and morphologically differentiate native J. californica and introduced J. nigra walnut trees at Ascot Hills Park.
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Leo
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Stacy
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Anna
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Ian
Wright |
Lab member 2018-2021. Leo explored the evolutionary origins of a threatened freshwater sardine, Sardinella tawilis, that is endemic to Taal Lake – a volcanic lake formed only 300 years ago. Leo uses SNPs to genotype and contrast S. tawilis from its marine sister species S. hualiensis for estimating when species divergence occurred.
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Lab member 2018-2021. Stacy originally worked with Mary using molecular tools on the Los Angeles Seafood Monitoring Project. Stacy’s current work with Anna aims to use molecular and morphological metrics to identify genetic diversity of black walnut trees (native Juglans californica and introduced J. nigra) to inform future restoration efforts at the park.
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Lab member 2018-2021. Anna worked previously on ecosystem service data from Ascot Hills Park. Anna currently partners with Stacy who together are characterizing the composition of black walnut species present at Ascot Hills Park, namely the native Juglans californica and introduced J. nigra.
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Lab member 2021. Ian’s capstone research project uses a combination of UAV/remote sensing imagery to generate normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to characterize vegetative features at the urban Ascot Hills Park.
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Kelcie
Chiquillo |
Sydney
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Marie
Smith |
Kesterlyn
Wilson |
Lab Member 2015-2020. Kelcie is a doctoral candidate at UCLA. Kelcie’s dissertation examines multiple ecological and evolutionary questions about the invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea both in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas. Kelcie has received multiple awards and grants for her research, and has several manuscripts in review and in the works.
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Lab member 2017-2020. Sydney worked on the lab’s multi-year project to understand the impact of a warming climate on black walnut seed germination rates. Sydney graduated with a B.S. in Biology in 2020.
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Lab member 2018-2020. Marie worked on using molecular tools to distinguish Zostera marina from the cryptic California seagrass Zostera pacifica. She also co-authored a 2021 Marine Policy paper. Marie is currently working as a molecular genetics technician.
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Lab member 2017-2020. Kesterlyn worked on assessing the value of urban park ecosystem services in Los Angeles. She co-authored the 2021 Marine Policy paper with a second paper in prep. Kesterlyn is currently working as a genetics laboratory tech.
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Sofia
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Nick
Pilaud |
Jackie
Galvez |
Lab member 2015-2019. Sofia was a co-author on the 2017 seafood paper and continued working on ecolabeled seafood genetics research until she graduated with her B.S. in Biochemistry. Sofia is currently in medical school at Western Michigan.
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Lab member 2015-2019. Nick was a co-author on the 2017 seafood paper and worked on brush pile research. He graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Science and is currently a tech at The Bay Foundation.
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Lab member 2016-2019. Jackie worked the effects of climate change on walnut seed germination. Jackie graduated with a B.S. in Biology and is now earning her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley.
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Candice
Cross |
Sophie
Deen |
Matt
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Xiaoya Selena
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Lab member 2017-2019. Candice studies the ecology, spread, and carbon sequestration capacity of the invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea. She graduated with her B.S. in Biology and is currently earning her Ph.D. at UCLA.
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Lab member 2016-2019. Sophie was lead author on the slime mold & 3D printing experiments to investigate traffic patterns in Los Angeles. Sophie graduated with a B.S. in Health and Human Science and is currently earning her doctorate in Physical Therapy at USC.
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Lab member 2018-2019. As a CURes researcher, Matt collaborated with the lab in developing a molecular genetics tool to distinguish prey types in coyote scat. Matt graduated with his B.S. in Biology and is currently in medical school
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Lab member 2018-2019. Selena worked on multiple research project in the lab including the on-going Los Angeles Seafood Monitoring project and eco-labeled seafood project, which is being prepared for publication.
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Sarah
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COLLABORATORS
Our lab frequently works with top-notch scientists and experts from around the world. Below is a list of some of our collaborators!
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Dr. Sascha Steiner
Sascha is the founder and director of ITME and TROPIC and has been a long-time collaborator and colleague of the lab on our invasive seagrass work, primarily in Dominica (West Indies).
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Dr. Mudjie Santos
Mudjie is a Research Scientist II in the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (Philippines) and has partnered on multiple food security and fisheries management projects with the lab. He also was a teammate of Demian’s on local basketball leagues in the Philippines.
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Dr. Peggy Fong
Peggy is a Professor at UCLA and partners with the lab on ecological studies on the invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea in the Caribbean. She is also a cherished mentor of Demian’s.
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Dr. Anna Toline
Anna is a marine scientist and Ocean Program Coordinator for the National Park Service Southeast region and partners with the lab on risk assessment and management strategies targeted at the invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea within US National Parks, including the Virgin Islands National Park and the Coral Reef National Monument.
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Dr. Gidon Winters
Gidon is a researcher at the Dead Sea & Arava Science Center (Israel) and partners with the lab in investigating the genetic basis for the rapid, global expansion of invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea.
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Dr. Eli Meyer
Eli is an Assistant Professor at Oregon State University and partners with the lab in the use of cutting-edge molecular methods, and is the co-organizer of our summer workshops on Catalina Island.
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Dr. Paul Barber
Paul is a Professor at UCLA and partners with the lab in using molecular genetic tools to help address challenges with Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported (IUU) fishing and seafood fraud. He is also an esteemed mentor of Demian’s.
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Dr. Elizabeth Sbrocco
Elizabeth is a research scholar with the Ronin Institute and partners with the lab in on-going ecological niche modeling of the invasive seagrass, Halophila stipulacea, in the Caribbean.
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Dr. Anchana Prathep
Anchana is a Professor at Prince of Songkhla University in Thailand and has and continues to collaborate with Demian on multiple scientific education programs.
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Dr. Samantha Cheng
Sam is a post-doctoral scholar with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at UC Santa Barbara and partners with the lab on a range of fisheries management topics.
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Mr. Duncan Leadbitter
Duncan is the director of Australia-based fisheries and natural resource consulting group Fish Matter, and a fellow at the University of Wollongong (Australia). Duncan has collaborated with the lab on marine fisheries research.
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Dr. Ines Gonzalez Viana,
Dr. Lucy Gillis, and Dr. Rapti Siriwardana-de Zoysa Ines, Lucy and Rapti are current research collaborators investigating social, ecological, and biological questions related to the invasive seagrass across the Caribbean Sea.
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Links to Collaborating Partners and Institutes
