CURRENT LAB MEMBERS
Jen Hamel
Dr. Hamel is an Associate Professor at Elon University, in the Department of Biology. Dr. Hamel's CV is available here. |
Rebecca Carranza
Rebecca joined the lab in Fall 2019 and is studying host plant use and mating signals in a treehopper called Entylia carinata. Reb completed SURE 2021, and has a lot of data to sort through in 2022! |
Alana Evora
Alana joined the lab in Fall 2020. She is studying the effects of vibrational road noise on treehopper behavior with Entylia carinata. Alana was awarded a Lumen Prize and will be collecting her experimental data during SURE 2022! |
Ainsley Shan
Ainsley joined the lab in Spring 2021. He will be studying how mutualistic ants and insect predators respond to treehopper vibrational signals during SURE 2022! |
LAB ALUMNI
Bea Balajonda
Bea contributed to a large study on squash bug mate choice, and she also collaborated with Lauren Miller to present findings at Elon SURF and NCAS on habitat and host plant use by our two focal Anasa species. Bea and Lauren won an award for their NCAS poster presentation. Bea graduated in Spring 2017, and she worked as a Clinical Research Specialist and then Research Coordinator at the Duke Brain Tumor Center. Bea is now enrolled in nursing school for an Accelerated Bachelors of Science in Nursing. |
Kaley Clapp
Kaley owns and cares for exotic mammals, and during Fall 2020, Kaley tested a non-invasive screening method to assay fertilization in camelids. Kaley is planning to attend PA School. |
Neil Clark
Neil contributed to a large study on squash bug mate choice with lab and field work in Summer 2016. He currently works with the Greensboro Department of Parks and Recreation. |
Breanna Coughlin
Breanna studied antipredator vibrational communication in a plant-feeding insect called the keeled treehopper (Entylia carinata). Breanna participated in Elon SURE 2017, and she presented her work at the Association of Southeastern Biologists Annual Meeting (ASB) and Elon SURF. Breanna is now working as a veterinary assistant at a clinic in NC. |
Emma Ebright
Emma joined the lab in Fall 2018 and was one of the founders of our red-headed meadow katydid project. She collaborated with Nicole to characterize the behavior and communication of red-headed meadow katydids during mating encounters. Emma and Nicole presented their work at Elon BIOSURF. Emma graduated in Spring '20, and she is now working as a Research Technician in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University. |
Emma Eskeland
Emma investigated behavioral isolation between two Anasa species and presented her work as a poster at Elon SURF in Spring 2016. She further developed the work and presented it orally at Elon SURF 2017 and NCAS. Emma won an award for her NCAS presentation, and she is a co-author on the paper that includes this work, in the Journal of Insect Science. Emma graduated in Spring 2017, completed internships at the Lowry Zoo in Tampa, FL, and is now working as a veterinary assistant at a clinic in Houston. |
Warren Grunvald
Warren contributed to a large study on squash bug mate choice, and he also documented the morphology of individuals of Anasa spp. at our FL field site. Warren presented this work at Elon SURF and NCAS, and he won an award for his NCAS poster. Warren graduated in Spring 2017. He is currently in his second year of medical school at Larner College of Medicine in Vermont, and he is doing research on the impact of COVID-19 on treatment of opioid use disorder in the Emergency Department there. |
Alina Iwan
Alina studied vibrational communication in neotropical katydids. She conducted field research at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island, Panama over two years ('18 and '19). Alina was awarded Glen Raven Endowed Scholarships, Center for Research on Global Engagement Scholarships, a research grant from the Acoustical Society of America, and a Turner Program award from the Animal Behavior Society. She participated in SURE 2018 and presented her work at NCAS and the national Animal Behavior Society conference. Alina won an award for her NCAS presentation, she is conducting field research with honeybees with the USDA in Madison, WI. |
Tyler Lehmann
Tyler investigated how mating between two insect species affects female fecundity and reproductive success. He presented his work as a poster at ASB and Elon SURF, and he is a co-author on the paper that includes this work, in the Journal of Insect Science. Tyler graduated in Spring 2016, and he worked with Americorps for two years, doing service work for areas in need. He is currently working in horticulture. |
Davis McGuirt
Davis contributed to three projects in the lab during Summer 2018, and he developed his independent project on how airborne signals produced by katydids propagate through substrates. Davis graduated in Spring '20, and he is currently studying for the MCAT and working toward a medical school pathway. |
Nicole Marici
Nicole joined the lab in Spring 2019. She collaborated with Emma Ebright to characterize the behavior and communication of red-headed meadow katydids during mating encounters. Nicole and Emma presented their work at Elon BIOSURF. Nicole graduated in Spring '20, and she is planning to attend medical school. |
Lauren Miller
Lauren contributed to a large study on squash bug mate choice, and she also collaborated with Bea Balajonda to present findings at Elon SURF and NCAS on habitat and host plant use by our two focal Anasa species. Lauren and Bea won an award for their NCAS poster presentation. Lauren graduated in Spring 2017, and she is working as a laboratory technician at LabCorp. |
Dawson Nance
Dawson studied how parasitoid attacks influence mate choice and copulations for squash bugs. Dawson participated in the 2015 SURE program at Elon, and presented her work at ASB, Elon SURF, the Animal Behavior Society Conference in 2016, and at NCAS in 2017. Dawson won an award for her presentation at NCAS. Dawson graduated in Spring 2017, and she is now a tissue recovery coordinator at Tennessee donor services in Nashville, TN. |
Jean Ross
Jean studied multimodal communication in neotropical katydids. Jean was awarded a Glen Raven Endowed Scholarship and a Center for Research on Global Engagement Scholarship to conduct her research at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama during Winter 2020. She also participated in SURE 2020. Jean presented her research at Elon SURF, as well as at ASB and the Animal Behavior Society - her presentations were recognized with awards at both conferences. Jean is now a graduate student in the Iyengar lab at Villanova University, where she is studying sexual selection with maritime earwigs. |
Matt Sears
Matt studied the effects of mating duration on reproductive outcomes for squash bugs. Matt participated in SURE 2017, presented this work at ASB and Elon SURF, and published it in 2020 in the journal Behavioural Processes. He also contributed to a large project at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, and was awarded a Glen Raven Endowed Scholarship and a Center for Research on Global Engagement Scholarship to support this travel. Matt worked for two years as a research specialist at the U. Penn Perelman School of Medicine, and he has published two peer-reviewed scientific papers to date! He is currently a Technical Associate in the Tsai Laboratory at MIT. |
Sydney Solomon
Sydney studied how diet affects reproductive development in two hybridizing species of squash bugs. Sydney participated in SURE 2019 and presented this work at NCAS and Elon SURF. Sydney won an award for her presentation at NCAS. Sydney has completed her coursework for a Master of Science in Nutrition at Columbia University, and she is now conducting thesis research on pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. |
Paige Stover
Paige investigated how mating between two insect species affects offspring developmental and survival. She presented her work as a poster at ASB and Elon SURF, and she is a co-author on the paper that includes this work, in the Journal of Insect Science. Paige graduated in Spring 2016, and she is currently attending her third year of medical school at UNC-Chapel Hill. |
David Terrill
David contributed a ton of effort to lab and field research on squash bug mate choice during Summer 2015. For the last year, David has been deployed with the 236th Brigade Engineering Battalion (BEB), part of the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), supporting Operation Spartan Shield in the Middle East as a Combat Medic. He is also completing a health science degree with Purdue Global. |
Rebecca Usher
Rebecca joined the lab in Fall 2019. She characterized the behavior and communication of solitary red-headed meadow katydids through field observations. Rebecca is planning to attend veterinary school and is currently working as a veterinary technician at Animal Medical Hospital in Charlotte, NC. |
Connor Whiffen
Connor contributed to three projects in the lab during Summer 2018: and developed an independent project in which he quantitatively described squash bug mating behavior. Connor won an award for his poster presentation at NCAS. Connor graduated in Spring 2019, and he is enrolled in a post-bacc pre-medical program at Northeastern University. |
Wes Henderson
Wes completed his BS at NC State and assisted with lab and field research on squash bug mate choice during Summer 2015. Wes is currently enrolled in graduate study at Campbell University's School of Osteopathic Medicine, going on his third year in their Master of Biomedical Sciences program. |
Lab visit to BugFest 2015