Principal Investigator

Jessica E. Light (she/her/hers)
​Jessica is interested in evolution, systematics, and population genetics of vertebrates and invertebrates. She’s particularly interested in investigating cospeciation between mammals and their parasitic lice to determine which factors are important in driving their associations. email: jlight2 *at* tamu.edu

Technicians

Danielle Dillard
Danielle received her Master's from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. She has spent the last several years in southern California where she worked for the USFWS, then for UC Berkeley in the Carrizo Pains National Monument on a long-term ecosystem project.  Danielle's current research is investigating interactions between the giant kangaroo rat and a trombiculid mite. She is also participating in several projects in the Light lab. Danielle enjoys playing sand volleyball, hiking, and spending time with her husband and son.

Shelby Fischer
Shelby is graduated from Texas A&M in December 2019 with a degree in wildlife and fisheries conservation. To gain more experience to reach her goal of working at a natural history museum or zoo, Shelby has joined the Light lab and the Texas A&M University Insect Collection (Department of Entomology) to work on the Terrestrial Parasite Tracker project funded by the National Science Foundation. ​

Spring 2022 Technicians: River Martinez

Graduate Students

Rhiannon Belcher
Rhiannon is a 3rd year PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program. Information coming soon! Email: rbelcher *at* tamu.edu

Brandy Craft
Brandy is a 1st year master's student. Brandy graduated with a bachelors in Wildlife and Fisheries Science with an emphasis in Ecology and Conservation Biology in 2015. For the past 7 years, she has worked as a veterinarian technician and a lab supervisor at Texas A&M. Brandy is interested in studying the evolution of morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaption mechanisms in different mammalian species. Her long-term goals are to work in academia as a professor or as a curator in a natural history museum. Email: bcraft *at* tamu.edu

 Natalie Hamilton
Natalie is 4th year PhD student, co-advised by Dr. Michael Morrison. Natalie received her master's in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology from The Ohio State University. While undertaking her MS research, Natalie focused on big-picture evolutionary questions in sea anemones, with a focus on a parasitic lineage. At Texas A&M, Natalie is using her skills as a geneticist to understand patterns of relationships and migration in populations of the Townsend's big-eared bat. Long-term, Natalie intends to use ecological and genetic tools to aid in the conservation and management of at-risk species. Learn more about Natalie here. Email: nhamilton *at* tamu.edu

​Ali Lira
​Ali is a 2nd year PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program. She received her MS degree from Posgrado en Ciencias Biologicas, UNAM (Mexico) where she focused on bat fly taxonomy, mainly on species delimitation of the genus Megistopoda, parasite of New World leaf-nosed bats of the genus Artibeus and Sturnira. Ali is interested in parasites, bats, systematics, evolution and host-parasite coevolution. Particularly, she is interested in cospeciation between bat flies and their hosts, and its relationship with the diversification of these parasites in the Neotropics. Email: alizeltzin *at* tamu.edu

Undergraduate Students

Haley Ellis
Haley is a senior wildlife and fisheries undergraduate with a minor in bioenvironmental science. She's excited to gain experience and technical skills within the Light lab to further her mammalian career. In the future, Haley hopes to work with conservation of endangered species, pursue wildlife rehabilitation centers, or even work at a local zoo to educate the public about the exhibits and advocate for wildlife conservation! Haley also loves to spend time with her kitty, Olive, and her family, and watching movies! 

Katelyn Sanchez
Katelyn is currently a second year undergraduate student majoring in Ecology and Conservation Biology. She will be assisting the Light Lab in their work with Peromyscus maniculatus to gain experience in the field of mammalogy. In the future, she plans to do field work in conservation biology or be a curator at a natural history museum.

Keerthana Rameshbabu
Keerthana is a senior Biology major and is excited to improve her technical skills working in the Light lab. She aims to work in the biotechnology field after graduation, and has a special interest in protein-based therapeutics. Outside of school, Keerthana tries to help the TAMU and wider BCS community through her student organization. 

Laboratory Alumni - Postdoctoral Researchers, Graduate Students, Technicians

Stephen Fowler, non-thesis MS 2022
Stephen obtained his non-thesis MS degree in May 2022. Stephen obtained his B.S in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M in Spring 2020, where he focused on ecology and conservation. As an undergraduate student, Stephen assisted Lacie in her field work searching for Chaetodipus nelsoni during the summer of 2019. Stephen is interested in mammal conservation and ecological processes and recently accepted a position as a Conservation Technician with the Nature Conservancy in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Delaine Kelley, non-thesis MS 2022
Delaine obtained her non-thesis MS degree in May 2022. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and a concentration in Ecology and Conservation Biology from Texas A&M University in May 2020. As an undergraduate student, Delaine earned an internship with the National Parks Service at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina where she determined that conservation of endangered species is what she wanted to devote her career path to. For her non-thesis MS research, Delaine is investigated differences between two carnivore species, wolves and pumas. Delaine is currently a Biological Specialist in Altus, Oklahoma, with the USDA.

Emily Dowdy, non-thesis MS 2021
Emily completed her non-thesis MS degree in August 2021 and she obtained her Bachelor's in Health from Texas A&M in 2017. Emily pursued a non-thesis MS to improve her abilities as an educator. Emily is currently a public school teacher in Rockwall, Texas.

Leila Siciliano-Martina, PhD 2020
Leila is interested in evolutionary changes in the morphology of mammal species due to anthropogenic drivers. She has a masters degree in zoology from Michigan State University, where she studied maternal relationships and stress behaviors in captive giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis). Prior to joining Texas A&M, Leila was an adjunct biology instructor for Our Lady of the Lake University (San Antonio, TX). For her dissertation research, Leila investigation morphological consequences of captivity across several mammal lineages. Leila’s research was being co-advised by Michelle Lawing. Leila was recently a postdoctoral researcher at Texas State University and now is a postdoctoral researcher at Texas A&M.

Adrian Castellanos, PhD 2019
Adrian broadly interested in understanding species distributions. For his PhD, Adrian focused on a comparative phylogeographic study of mammals across Central America. Relying almost entirely on museum specimens performed ecological niche modeling and advanced distribution analyses using R to test biogeographic hypotheses across Central America. Adrian is currently at  Data Manager at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

Whitney Preisser, PhD 2019
Whitney is broadly interested in host-parasite coevolution. For her dissertation, Whitney examined parasite communities of cricetid rodents across latitudinal gradients.  During her time at Texas A&M, Whitney dove into the parasite literature, did a lot of field work (in Texas, Nebraska, Canada, Costa Rica, and Mexico), and performed intensive dissections and specimen preparation for accession into the BRTC. Whitney was a postdoctoral researcher with Chelsea Wood at the University of Washington and then a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. She's now a brand-new Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at Kennesaw State University.

Bridgett Benedict, MS 2018
Bridgett was a MS student hailing from California. She received her Bachelor's degree in environmental biology from the University of California Davis. For her thesis research, Bridgett explored the phylogeography of the Heermann's kangaroo rat, Dipodomys heermanni. Read more about D. heermanni here. Bridgett is pursuing her Ph.D. with Dr. Perry Barboza at Texas A&M and recently took a position in Alaska with Fish & Game.

Nina Heunis
Nina was a postdoctoral researcher in the Light lab. She obtained her doctorate from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Nina is interested host-parasite co-evolution using rodents and lice as a model system. For her postdoc, Nina worked on the phylogenetics of two sucking louse genera (Hoplopleura and Polyplax) and a population genetics study of Polyplax arvicanthis using next-generation techniques (ddRADSeq). Nina is currently an educator in South Africa.

Aleyda Galán, MS 2016
For her Master's research, Aleyda examined small mammal biodiversity across East Foundation properties in South Texas. Aleyda spent a lot of time in the field, lab, and BRTC collections examining mammalian, ectoparasite, and pathogen diversity across habitat types and East Foundation properties. Aleyda is currently an environmental consultant in southeast Texas.

Oona Takano, MS 2016
Oona completed her MS degree exploring avian louse diversity across Africa in 2016. Her thesis explored host-parasite associations, identified new species, and hypothesize relationships among avian lice distributed in South Africa, Benin, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Oona has several published manuscripts as part of her thesis research (see Publications page) and several other manuscripts in preparation. Oona is currently a PhD student at the University of New Mexico.

Justin Henningsen
Justin was a postdoctoral researcher in the Light, Voelker, and Hibbitts lab, examining biodiversity across East Foundation properties in South Texas. Justin received his PhD in 2013 in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Massachusetts where he examined whole-organism performance and signals in green anole lizards. Justin is broadly interested in ecology and evolution.

Jaime Rodriguez, MS 2014
Co-advised by Dr. Sarah Hamer in Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M, Jaime completed a field, lab, and analytically intensive thesis examining tick-borne pathogens of southeastern Texas. One publication resulting from this work is already published, and several other publications are in the works. Jaime is now a physician at Family Medicine Physician in Washington.

Caitlin Nessner, MS 2014
Caitlin started out as an undergraduate volunteer in the lab and we were happy to have her as a graduate student. For her thesis, Caitlin worked on the population genetics of chewing lice parasitizing pocket gophers. She also pursued several side projects including examining bird louse diversity from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After working as an instructor in the Biology Department at Texas A&M, Caitlin recently was a project manager in the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine. She now resides in North Carolina where she is a Senior Software Product Manager at Grail.

John Andersen, MS 2012
John began his time in the Light Lab as an undergraduate researcher, working on a phylogeographic and taxonomic examination of the hispid pocket mouse, Chaetodipus hispidus. For his this work, John continued working on heteromyd rodents, concententrating on population genetics and conservation of kangaroo mice (genus Microdipodops).   John is currently the Director of Solution Architecture at CognitiveScale in Austin, Texas.

Sarah Welborn, MS 2012
For her thesis work, Sarah examined the population genetics of the Baird’s pocket gopher (Geomys breviceps). To undertake this work, Sarah developed 10 polymorphic microsatellite primers for Geomys breviceps; these markers also amplify in other pocket gopher species. Sarah is an educator, teaching 5th grade math at Ingram Elementary School in Ingram, Texas.

Laboratory Alumni - Undergraduate Students
The Light lab has been very fortunate to have had a wonderful group of undergraduate students working in the lab, field, and BRTC.  Many of these students are now in graduate or professional school and many are, or will be, included on peer-reviewed manuscripts. They are all greatly missed!

Past students include (not all are pictured above):
Marcy Ostroff, Jennifer Garner, John Andersen, Caitlin Nessner, Mariana Gonzalez, Samantha (Rosenbaum) Wise, Kamala Lakamsani, Carlos Rodriguez, Chris Sandoval, Michelle Navin, Adrian Castellanos, J.M. Weidler, Josh Olmos, Alicia Byers, Alberto Sanchez, Emily Muehleman, Omar Polio, Lauren Wimbish, Noel Lyon, Steffan Hill, Hudson Berkhouse, Matthew Argo, Melissa Hopkins, Josh Brown, Katelyn Lasater, Hunter Folmar, Preston Mitchell, Sara Stephens, Gabrielle Green, Katie Miller, Ricardo Orozco, Austin Lester, Kelsey Persyn, Ashley Sloan, AnMarie Ulery, Bonner Watson, Rebecca Shine, Ben Anderson, Celeste Wickman, Mary Casillas, Tony Keith, Brianna Mena, Keegan Hottinger, Devon Eldridge, Taylor Duke, Caylie Harris, David Ojeda, Melanie Garduno, Abagail Adams, Shelby Fischer, Corrin Winter, Julia Mendez, Stephen Fowler, Madeline Hipp, Cassidy Regan, Jonathan Goldsborough, Logan Lancaster, Jenna Warfield, John Henze, Brianna Williams, Shandra Conley, Neo Koite, Ziyu Wang, Brianna Simonds, Lacie LaMonica, Grace Vielleux, Emma Dohnalik