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Principal investigator
 
Stilianos Louca, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of Oregon, Department of Biology
Stilianos studied physics and mathematics in Germany. He obtained his Ph.D. in mathematical biology at the University of British Columbia, Canada. His research focuses on the ecology and evolution of microorganisms. He is the recipient of the 2017 Science & SciLifeLab worldwide Grand Prize for Young Scientists in the life sciences, the 2019 ASN Young Investigator Award, the 2019 CSEE Early Career Award, and a 2021 Sloan Research Fellowship.
Personal website.
 
 
Postdoctoral researchers
 
Haitao Shang
Haitao is a postdoctoral researcher in the Louca Lab. He obtained a Ph.D. in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2021. Haitao is broadly interested in the co-evolution of life and the environment with particular emphasis on answering how the evolution of microorganisms has contributed to shaping the surface environments of Earth and exoplanets. In the Louca Lab, he is working on the evolution of microbial metabolic pathways and modeling Earth's biogeochemistry over macroevolutionary timescales.
Sophia Lambert
Sophia obtained a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Sciences at the Institute of Biology of École Normale Supérieure and the National Museum of Natural History (Paris) in 2022. Her past work focused on developing diversification models adapted to microbial datasets, fast inference techniques using deep learning and applying them to large reconstructed microbial phylogenies. She is broadly interested in the ecological and metabolic strategies of prokaryotes and micro-eukaryotes and how these have shaped their evolution. In the Louca lab, her project aims at understanding ocean prokaryotes evolution with a special interest on their mode of speciation using genomic data.
Personal website.
 
 
Graduate students
 
Hengameh Habibi Soufi
Hengameh graduated with a B.Sc. in Cellular and Mollecular Biology in 2017, where she worked on culturing and isolation of Thaumarchaeota samples from deep strata of Caspian Sea. Hengameh is now on a track to combine her wetlab knowledge with bioinformatic tools to understand microbial life.
Maria (Masha) Korchagina
Masha graduated with a B.A. in Physical Anthropology and a minor in Molecular Biology from New York University in 2013. As an undergrad researcher, she used molecular techniques to study primate phylogenetics as well as microbial community ecology in urban environments. For her PhD, Masha is using bioinformatics to investigate the coevolution and diversification of prokaryotic genes and genomes.
Robert Porch
Rob graduated from Rutgers University in 2020 with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolution and a minor in Statistics. During his 2019 summer REU, Rob worked in Britt Koskella's lab at UC Berkeley, where he discovered his interest in microbial ecology. For his PhD, Rob is using bioinformatics and phylogenetics to develop software to infer metabolic functional traits from prokaryotic taxa. Outside of academics, Rob enjoys making music, running, and video games.
 
 
Undergraduate researchers
 
Ananya Chowdhury
Ananya is a junior at the University of Oregon majoring in biology with minors in biochemistry and science communication. Her research focuses on the molecular basis of aging, specifically how biological sex and chemical interventions influence aging in male C. elegans. Her primary interests include epigenetics, evolution, molecular biology, and protein function. She is excited to join the FAPROTAX2 project to expand her knowledge of bacterial species and their ecologically relevant functions.
Avery Smith
Avery is a third-year Biology major with a minor in Anthropology. Avery is interested in exploring evolution, ecology, genetics, nutrition, and immunology. She is excited to be helping with the FAPROTAX project in the Louca Lab to improve scientific knowledge on bacterial and archaeal species.
Elizabeth Simpson
Elizabeth is a freshman marine biology major in the CHC. Their academic interests include marine bird and mammal conservation, field ecology, intertidal zones, reef, kelp, and fish ecology and conservation, and working as an aquarist. In their free time they enjoy scuba diving in Hoodsport Washington, baking, doing art, and hanging out with friends.
Jade Peairson
Jade is a first year Marine Biology major in the Clark Honors College. Her academic interests are mainly in biology, specifically reefs, sharks, and ocean conservation, and she hopes to one day become a professor of Marine Biology. Her favorite activities outside of academics include professional mermaiding, SCUBA diving, backpacking, and competitive open water swimming.
Jared Schnider
Jared is a third-year biology major, with minors in chemistry and global service. He is mainly interested in cellular mechanisms and genetics, as well as learning more about how he can use knowledge gained from these areas to better understand their interface with other areas of biology. Outside of academics he enjoys working out, being outdoors, and reading.
Liam Versteeg
Liam is a 3rd-year biology major with an anthropology minor in the Clark Honors College. He is especially interested in primate ecology, evolutionary mechanisms, and animal behavior, and hopes to one day have a career in either wildlife management or conservation research. In the Louca Lab, he is currently working on data collection for the FAPROTAX project.
Mason Roy-Hart
Mason is a third-year student pursuing a double major in Biology and Neuroscience. He is interested in studying mechanisms and spread of infectious diseases, the processes of the immune system, and the ecology of the gut microbiome. He is excited to help out with the FAPROTAX2 project, in order to learn as much as possible about the diversity of prokaryotic life. Outside of academics, he enjoys spending as much time outdoors as possible and exploring new places.
 
 
Alumni
 
William Andrews (undergraduate researcher, 2023)
Mark Williams (undergraduate researcher, 2023)
Ben Carr (undergraduate researcher, 2023)
Joseph Abrams (undergraduate researcher, 2023)
Tommy Taylor (undergraduate researcher, 2022-2024)
Lauren Grover (undergraduate researcher, 2023-2024)
Oliver Loreto (undergraduate researcher, 2022-2023)
Katherine Qi (undergraduate researcher, 2022-2023)
Jake Hoskins (undergraduate researcher, 2022-2023)
Loie Bonnet (undergraduate researcher, 2022)
Jordan Rodriguez (PhD rotation, 2022)
Vicente Ibarra (undergraduate researcher, 2022)
Daniel Tran (undergraduate researcher, 2022)
Narda Jimena Trivino (PhD rotation, 2021)
Leila Jones (undergraduate researcher, 2021)
Nathan Malamud (undergraduate researcher, 2021)
Callum Kuo (undergraduate researcher, 2020)
Jacob Ryan (undergraduate researcher, 2020)
Alexandria Montgomery (undergraduate researcher, 2020)
Sage Albright (undergraduate researcher, honors thesis in Louca lab, 2020)
Thorin Haussecker (undergraduate researcher, 2020)
Gabriel Pedersen (undergraduate researcher, 2020)
Allen Williamson (undergraduate researcher, 2020)
Claire Lewis (undergraduate researcher, 2020)
Caitlin Smith (PhD rotation, 2020)
Rachel Lisle (undergraduate researcher, 2020)
David Hugel (undergraduate researcher, 2020)
Daniel Sullivan (undergraduate researcher, 2020)
James Carr (undergraduate researcher, 2019)
Crysta Winter (undergraduate researcher, 2019)
Marissa Gutierrez (undergraduate researcher, 2019)
 
 
Lab photos
 
2020.08.11_Mickey_hot_spring
2020.09.22_Yellowstone_bison
2020.09.23_PI_sampling_a_hot_spring
2021.09.12_Mickey_hot_springs
2021.09.12_Microbial_mat
2021.09_Black_Rock_hot_spring
2022.05.15_Triangle_Lake
2022.05.15_Triangle_Lake_testing
2022.05.27_Departing_for_Soda_Lakes
2022.05.28_Soda_Lake_camp
2022.05.29_Soda_Lake_boat_deployment
2022.05.29_Soda_Lake_boat_steering
2022.08.01_Borax_Lake_sampling
2022.08.02_Black_Rock_desert
2022.08.03_Winnemucca_Lake_exploration
2022.08.11_Borax_Lake_hot_springs
2022.08.19_Soda_Lake_into_the_water
2022.08.20_Soda_Lake_spectrophotometric_measurements
2022.08.29_Yellowstone_hot_spring_sampling
2023_Coastal_coring_cart
2023_Coastal_coring_cutting_pipes
2023_Coastal_coring_group
2023_Coastal_coring_high_tide
2023_Coastal_coring_water_chemical_measurements
 

Louca lab. Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, USA
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