One of the best aspects of science is getting to teach and mentor other students. As a UCB graduate student I have had the privilege of working with a number of amazing and talented undergraduates whose research involvement has been essential. Check out their bios below!
Former Students
Elisa Yang
Environmental Science (Class 22’)
Elisa joined the lab after participating in the SURF SMART summer (2019) mentorship program with me, during which she conducted an independent project on weaver phylogenetics. Since then Elisa has continued to work on the project by helping to identify weaver nest specimens, investigating life history correlates with nest design and most recently, helping to assemble whole genomes of weavers. Prior to joining the lab Elisa had already established herself as an ornithological tour de force– she was the founder and president of the California Young Birders Club, established the Wrong-Eared Owl, an online publication on avian research. She also worked with previous MVZ Postdoc Nick Mason (now assistant professor and curator of birds at LSU), investigating plumage color in Dark-eyed Juncos. Elisa is an avid birder and wildlife photographer, check out her photos in the slideshow above. This fall (2023), Elisa will be joining the lab of Dr. Christina Riehl at Princeton University as a first-year PhD student. Most recently, she received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, congratulations Elisa!
Sarah Cobb
Integrative Biology (Class 22’)
Sarah joined the lab in the fall of 2021 after taking Natural History of the Vertebrates (IB104) the previous semester. As a lab member, she has focused on collecting and georeferencing weaver locality data and I’m so grateful that she will be continuing to assist with the weaver project this spring. Upon graduation, she plans to take some time to travel, adventure around California, and go birdwatching, of course!
Tomo Yoshino
Molecular Environmental Biology–Environmental Engineering Science (Class 23’)
Tomo joined the lab over a year ago and has been working on nearly all aspects of the weaver nest project: from measuring nesting materials and running summary statistics, to assisting in identifying nest specimens in museum collections. Prior to joining the lab, Tomo volunteered for the Cavity Nesters Recovery Program for three years, for which he received a volunteer spotlight award from the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society in 2018. This summer he plans to work in the Shoji Lab based in Tsukuba University in Japan where (if COVID permits) he’ll be conducting fieldwork on Middleton Island in Alaska to examine the effects of mercury on Tufted Puffins. In addition to being a rising star in ornithology, Tomo is also an accomplished cross country runner!
Kirpa Singh
Integrative Biology (Class 20’)
During her time at the MVZ Kirpa worked on a number of projects, including measuring nesting materials of weaver nests, sequencing DNA of Arabian toads and lizards, and co-authored a natural history note publication in Herpetological Review on the peculiar diet of the Pacific Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) along with fellow MVZ’er Michelle Koo. In addition to her natural history work, Kirpa also worked on medical research through the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, focusing on patients with schizophrenia. She is currently working on COVID-19 and cardiovascular health research as a research assistant at Kaiser Permanente.
Carrie Shao
Molecular Cell Biology–Music (Class 21’)
As a research apprentice Carrie worked on the weaver nest project by collecting data on nesting material size and density. Currently she is completing her undergraduate work with plans to attend graduate school to study music composition before pursuing medical school.
Stephanie Ho
Integrative Biology (Class 20’)
As one of the first student volunteers in the lab, Stephanie assisted tremendously with the initial organization and indexing of the weaver nest dataset. She later worked on setting geometric morphometric landmarks on images of museum study skins and helped compile life history trait data on weaver species. Since graduating she is now pursuing a career in medicine, and is a currently a dental student at the University of the Pacific (Class 23’).
Amanda Hayes
Integrative Biology–Nutritional Science (Class 21’)
Amanda worked on the weaver nest project as an undergraduate research apprentice in the fall of 2019. During that time she helped set geometric morphometric landmarks on images of museum study skins and compiled ecological data from the literature for each weaver species. Following this, she spent a semester abroad studying in Italy, and though we were sad to see her go, we were very excited for her international adventures. Currently Amanda is completing her undergraduate work with plans to pursue a master’s degree in Public Health.
Rebecca Jia
Integrative Biology (Class 21’)
Rebecca spent a year working in the lab, providing crucial assistance in data organization, geometric morphometric data collection, and later helped collect and compile life history trait data on weaver species. As a UCB graduate she is now working in e-commerce and international trade in southern California.
Katherine Laverman
Integrative Biology (Class 20’)
During Katherine’s time in the lab she helped compile and index life history data on weavers and helped collect geometric morphometric data. Katherine is now pursuing a career in environmental conservation and policy.