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Wren Edwards
PhD candidate, Biological Sciences
Wren is a biological sciences student at Ohio University
interested in how organisms respond to environmental change
through time. Her research experiences include paleontological
field work in eastern Africa, and extant great ape behavioral
research in western Africa. Her present interests include the
human – wildlife interface, particularly with regard to extant
great ape populations. |
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Domoina Rakotoson
Domoina completed an MA in African Studies in 2009, entitled Advancing Democracy through Community Based Conservation in Africa. Returning as a graduate student in the MSES program, she is currently working as an environmental consultant for the EU, with graduate work exploring the human element as a determinant of the effectiveness of the management of Madagascar's protected areas.
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Eileen Wyza
MS in Environmental studies, 2017
Phd student, Biological Sciences, current
Eileen completed her MS in Environmental Studies at Ohio
University studying Madagascar’s largest predator, the fosa. For
her PhD she is continuing her work on carnivore biology, with a
focus on coyote – domestic dog hybridization and its effects on
behavior and ecology.
Published work |
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Suzy Aftabizadeh
Specimen-Based Research Technician, OU
Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility
Suzy began working in the Stevens lab as a high school volunteer
and is now an Ohio University undergraduate pre-med major. She
is interested in scientific research techniques and works as a
research technician in the Stevens lab as both a digital and
mechanical specimen preparator, with a particular focus on
micro-CT datasets and morphological complexity analyses. Her
goal is to acquire experience in laboratory research and
hypothesis testing. |
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Ellie Klein
Specimen-Based Research Assistant, OU
Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility
Ellie began working in the Stevens lab as a high school
volunteer and is now an Ohio University undergraduate majoring
in Engineering. She is interested in scientific research
techniques and works in the Stevens lab as a specimen-based
research assistant, serving as a microscopy image database
expert. Her goal is to learn and acquire experience in research
techniques and data management for complex interdisciplinary
research projects. |
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Mackenzie Tyson
Specimen-Based Research Assistant, OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility and Database Research Assistant, OHIO Museum Complex
Mackenzie began working in the Stevens lab as a freshman and is majoring in Wildlife and Conservation Biology and Photojournalism at Ohio University. She is interested in environmental change through time and human-wildlife interactions, and has gained summer internship experience in wildlife biology in topics related to care, enrichment, rehabilitation/release and conservation educational outreach. Her goal is to pursue a career in documenting and protecting biodiversity.
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Matthew Borths
Matthew is a research affiliate of the
Stevens lab, and his work considers the evolution of meat-eating
mammals. He is particularly interested hyaenodonts, an extinct
group of carnivores that once topped the African food chain
before they were replaced by the relatives of dogs, cats, and
hyenas. As a laboratory coordinator and NSF Postdoc in the
StevensLab, he focused on the transition from hyaenodont-dominated
ecosystems to ecosystems featuring modern carnivores as the top
predators. Matt is the co-creator of
Past Time, a podcast, blog, and classroom outreach program
that uses fossils to demonstrate the basic scientific principles
that are foundational to spectacular discoveries. Matt now
directs the
Division of Fossil Primates at Duke University. |
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Karie Whitman
MS, Environmental Studies, 2017
MSES Thesis Title: Preparator and Collections Manager, OU
Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility, 2013–2018
Karie is a research affiliate in the Stevens lab, interested in
the dynamics of biodiversity conservation initiatives in
relation to the communities that are involved in and affected by
these initiatives. Her long term research explores the
effectiveness of alternative livelihood strategies in
alleviating deforestation pressures on the biodiverse and newly
protected area of Maromizaha Forest, Madagascar. Prior to her
enrollment as a Master’s student in the Voinovich School of
Leadership and Public Affairs, Karie was a student research
assistant at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural
History, with additional experience in AmeriCorps. Karie was a
student and collections manager in the Stevens lab before
becoming a Fulbright Research Scholar in Madagascar. |
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Brett Allerding
Undergraduate PACE student, 2014—2015 |
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Kenneth Brunson
Undergraduate PACE student, 2009-10
Research topic: Kinematics of Locomotion in Nonhuman Primates
Proceeded to train at Ohio State University Veterinary School |
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Kelly Flanigan
MS in Environmental Studies, completed in 2019
Thesis topic: Occupancy Analysis of Small Carnivores in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar
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Eric Gorscak
Preparator, OU Paleobiology Specimen
Preparation Facility
Eric worked as a preparatory at the OU Paleobiology Specimen
Preparation Facility before completing his PhD in the Biological
Sciences (O’Connor Lab). He pursued a post doctoral research
fellowship at Field Museum of Natural History, and is now an
Assistant Professor at Midwestern in Chicago. |
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Will Heffern
MSES in Environmental Studies, completed in 2021
Thesis topic: Relatedness Assessment and Analysis of Road Mortality Effects on Lynx rufus in Ohio
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Jacob McCartney
Currently, Assistant Professor of Biology,
State University of New York, Geneseo
Instructor and Postdoctoral Researcher |
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Michael McTernan
MS in Environmental Studies, completed in 2019
Thesis topic: Conservation Potential of a Semi-Forested Agricultural Landscape: Diversity and Spatial Distribution of Birds within a Large-Scale Ugandan Coffee Farm
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Keegan Melstrom
Preparator and Collections Manager, OU
Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility
now in graduate school at University of Utah |
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Daniel Mwania
MSc, Environmental Studies, 2016
Thesis title: Distribution and Density of the Invasive Plant
Species Prosopis juliflora in the Western Turkana Region of
Northern Kenya |
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Emily Naylor
Currently, Evolution, Ecology, and
Organismal Biology Graduate Student at University of California,
Riverside
Undergraduate PACE student, 2011–2012
Senior Thesis, 2012–2013
Laboratory Technichian, 2013–2015 |
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Rosa Negash
Preparator and Volunteer Coordinator, OU
Preparator and Volunteer Coordinator, OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility
Rosa began working in the Stevens lab as a high school volunteer and joined Ohio University as an undergraduate majoring in Nutrition. She explored scientific research techniques and served as the lead preparator and volunteer coordinator at the OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility, conducting field research in the western interior of the USA, as well as in Tanzania and Uganda. After graduation, Rosa spent a year as an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Athens County Health Department. She is now in the Masters in Public Health program at OSU.
admissions story
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Haley O'Brien
PhD Dissertation title: Evolutionary and
Comparative Morphology; Cenozoic African Paleobiology
Haley O'Brien completed her PhD in the Stevens Lab in 2016. Her
research explored thermoregulatory cranial vasculature and its
influence upon large mammal evolution across the Cenozoic, using
fossil and neontological data to inform macroevolutionary
models. To read more about her research and publications, visit
haleyobrien.net. |
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Shirley Odunze
Visiting Research Trainee
Thesis topic: Cenozoic African Paleobiology and the Sedimentary
Geology of Nigeria |
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Jeremy Phan
MS in Environmental Studies, completed in 2012
Thesis topic: Strategies for Conservation of Critically-Endangered Primates in Vietnam
Received Outstanding MSES thesis Award in 2012
Published reseach
Jeremy is now Director of the Lao Conservation Trust for Wildlife.
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Jessica Piurowski
Undergraduate PACE student, 2015–2016 |
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Verne Simons
MS in Biological Sciences, completed in
2007
Thesis title: Morphological Correlates of Locomotion in Anurans:
Limb Length, Pelvic Anatomy and Contact Structure Morphology |
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Rebecca Smolenski
Undergraduate PACE student, 2010-2011 |
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Will Stevens
Undergraduate UGRIP student, 2011—2012
Published research |
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Annalisa Weber
MS student, Environmental Studies,
2013–2015
Thesis Topic: Rule adherence during ecotourism encounters with Eastern Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP, Uganda
published research
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Kenneth Wheeler
Undergraduate PACE student, 2012—2013 |
