People

I am a landscape geneticist studying host-parasite biodiversity and evolution in complex geographic mosaics.  I combine my intellectual love of parasites with my passion for conservation to design research that integrates the two fields. 

Beth keeps everything in the field and lab organized and running smoothly. In the fall of 2024, she will transition to the lab's first Ph.D. student to work on fish and parasite biodiversity in pristine and heavily polluted rivers in the Chihuahuan desert ecoregion. Beth joins us from Western Michigan University, where she studied Gender and Women's studies and Environmental sustainability. 

Tarana is our resident tick extraordinaire.  She is studying the effects of Tularemia infection on tick blood-feeding and host-seeking behavior. She joins us from Dhaka University, Bangladesh, where she completed her MS in Entomology. Aside from tick wrangling, she loves to cook and travel.  After graduation, she will pursue a career in medical entomology.  She is co-advised by Dr. Brett Seymore (UTEP). 

Karen is a third-year student working in the lab as a Maxwell-Hanrahan Fellow and REU student.  She is studying changes in fish communities within the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Devils Rivers in response to human habitat changes and invasive species introductions over the last 30 years.  When not in the field, she is also a stellar EMT and plans to attend medical school.   

Manuel is a third-year student and avid outdoorsman working on fish-parasite biodiversity in the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Devils Rivers when he is not also trapping small mammals and collecting ticks.  An active member of the UTEP choir, Manuel is studying Rehabilitation Science and Kinesiology—a true renaissance man.  

Robbie will join the lab in the fall of 2024 but is already working with us this summer catching fish, mammals, and parasites. He joins us from Texas Tech University, where he studied Ecology and Environmental Biology and worked on Alligator parasites with Abbie Ince. He then worked as a zoologist for the Dallas Zoo and Dallas World Aquarium.