People
Kayla M. Fast, MSc
Research Associate III, Mississippi State University
Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture
Michael W. Sandel, PhD
Assistant Professor, Mississippi State University
Forest and Wildlife Research Center
Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture
Graduate Students
Tobin "Toby" Davidson, BSc
Master of Science Student
Thesis: Environmental DNA PCR Protocol development and Surveillance of the Weather Loach
Audrey Moehring, BSc
Master of Science Student
Thesis: Rodent Pathogen Surveillance Models
Tyler Redman, BSc
Master of Science Student
Thesis: Stream Network Predictors of Aquatic Pathogen Exposure Risk
Matthew Scott, BSc
Master of Science Student
Thesis: "Microbiome Characterization of Earth's Most Diverse Freshwater Ichthyofauna"
Caroline Teal, BSc
Master of Science Student
Thesis: "Phylogeography of Ethestoma lachneri"
Undergraduate Students
Victoria Greene
Undergraduate research: Microplastic and Mesoplastic Detection and Quantification of Sharks in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Jacob McGee
Undergraduate research: Genome Assembly and Annotation of a Zoonotic Fish Pathogen
Hannah Pye
Undergraduate research: Mycobacterium ulcerans Detection in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Graduate Alumni
Zachariah D. Alley, MSc
EDGE Environmental Consulting
Thesis: "Phylogenomics of the Leuciscid subgenus Hydrophlox" - October 2023
Anna N. Eastis, MSc
Alabama Department of Environmental Management
Thesis: "Phylogenomic Investigation of Invasive Green Swordtail Populations of Florida" - May 2023
Kenny D. Jones II, MSc
Natural Resources Specialist
Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command
Thesis: "Conservation Genomics of the Imperiled Coal Darter of the Mobile River Basin" - Dec 2022
John D. Larrimore, MSc
Medical Molecular Scientist
Oncology Diagnostics Laboratory
The University of South Alabama Medical Center
Non-thesis MSc - May 2021
Joshua D. Millwood, MSc
PhD candidate
The University of Alabama
Thesis: "Evolutionary Ecology of the Dermal Mucosal Microbiome of Mobile River Basin Sculpins (Teleostei: Cottidae)" - May 2018
J. Tyler Newburn, MSc
Soil Conservation Technician
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Thesis: "Characterization of the Dermal Mucosal Microbiome of Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and its Causative Agents" - May 2017
David Pounders, MSc
PhD Student, University of Southern Mississippi
Thesis: "Conservation Genomics and Phylogenomics of Elassoma" - May 2024
Alex Rakestraw, MSc
Research Coordinator
Florida International University
Thesis: "Investigation of Piscine Reservoirs for the Pathogen, Mycobacterium ulcerans" - Aug 2022
P. Kiersten Schellhammer, MSc
Army Corps of Engineers
Thesis: "An Aquatic Melting Pot: Genomic Homogenization of Bullhead Minnows of the Tenn-Tom Waterway" - May 2023
Mason M. Strickland, MSc
PhD Student University of Alabama at Birmingham
Thesis: "Conservation Genomics of the Bridled Darter (Percina kusha)" - May 2023
Caitlyn White, MSc
Biology instructor
Demopolis High School, Demopolis, Alabama
Non-thesis MSc - May 2016
Julia E. Wood, MSc
PhD Student,
Yale University
Thesis: "Phylogenomic Diagnosis of a Recently Discovered Population of Tennessee Dace (Chrosomus tennesseensis) in Alabama" - May 2021
Undergraduate Alumni
Rakim Ali, BSc
UWA BSc: May 2021
Undergraduate research: "Bioinformatic Investigation of Actinobacteriophage Genomes Reveals the LGFP Domain of the Lysin A Protein as a Putative Determinant of Host Range"
Christian Braswell, BSc
MSc Student,
Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama
UWA BSc: December 2020
Dominique Dawson, BSc
UWA BSc: May 2019
Undergraduate research: "Investigating Ancestry and Genomic Diversity of Walleye (Sander vitreus) in the Mobile River Basin"
Kyle Hubbard, BSc
MSU BSc: December 2025
Undergraduate research: "Population Genomic Assessment of the Gulf Strain of Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis)"
Yanesha Johnson, MSc
DNA Analyst/Serologist: Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, Houston, Texas
UWA BSc: May 2017
Undergraduate research:
"Post-mortem Dynamics of the Guppy Dermal Microbiome at Varying Temperatures"
Timothy 'TJ' Odom, MSc
PhD Student, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
UWA BSc degree: May 2017
Undergraduate research: "Bacteriophages as Keystones of the Breastmilk Microbiome"
T. Hunter Reid, BSc
Medical Lab Technologist: DCH Regional Medical Center, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
UWA BSc degree: 2021
