Department of Biology
Doug entered the PhD program in 2002 with a BS in Biology and a minor in Education. He is broadly interested in developmental biology, evolution and ecology. He joined the laboratories of Profs. Martha Weiss and Elena Casey and developed a project that crossed several disciplines. Doug was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student Award on October 16, 2006.
In May of 2007, Doug defended his Ph.D. thesis. He is conducting post-doctoral work at Harvard University.
Chris entered the PhD program in 2000 after receiving a BS in Biology from the University of Maryland in 2000 and an AB in Semiotics from Brown University in 1993. His research interests are in the ecology, evolution and genetics of plants under the direction of Prof. Matthew Hamilton. In collaboration with Prof. Martha Weiss, his work focused on the genetic architecture of floral color change in the genus Lupinus, using AFLP and microsatellite markers to construct a linkage map for QTL mapping of floral phenotypes. Chris won several awards including the University Fellow Award and an NSF pre-doctoral fellowship.
Chris successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation in January, 2006. His dissertation, "Phylogenetic relationship, mating systems and population structure in Lupinus (Leguminosae)," received the prestigious Harold N. Glassman Award for outstanding graduate dissertation, presented during the May 2007 Graduation Ceremonies.
Chris is a post-doc at the Center for Research on Invasive Species and Small Populations, University of Idaho.
Giny entered the PhD program in 2003. She graduated with highest honors in her medical school class from the University of Yaounde in Cameroon. She is studying malaria infections in pregnant women and has joined the Taylor laboratory.
Giny received the Young Investigator Award at the Pan-African Malaria meeting in 2005.
Giny defended her Ph.D. dissertation in June of 2006. She is a post-doctoral fellow at Duke University.
Quincy joined the PhD program in 2001 after receiving her BS degree in both Zoology and Psychology from the University of Maryland. She joined the laboratory of Prof. Janet Mann to study the behavior of bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Her general research interests include social complexity, individual variability, and behavioral development. More specifically, her research focuses on the development of, and variation in, social relationships in wild bottlenose dolphin calves.
Quincy has received several awards and honors, including the Animal Behavior Society’s Grant-in-aid of Research Award (2002), the American Society of Mammalogists Grant-in-aid of Research Award (2003), the Graduate School Research Travel Grant (2003), and the award for Innovative Research from the Graduate School (2003). She is also an University Fellow (2001-2006).
Quincy successfully defended her thesis in June of 2007.
Joel entered the PhD program in 2002 after receiving his MD from the University of Yaounde, Cameroon. His interests are in immunology and parasitology. He has joined the laboratory of Prof. Steve Singer to study Giardia infection and the host's response.
Congratulations to Joel! He successfully defended his dissertation, July of 2007.
Becca entered the PhD program in 2001 after receiving her BS degree in Biology from University of Notre Dame. Her interests are in molecular genetics and in teaching. She is investigating transcriptional regulation of the ADE genes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae under the direction of Prof. Ronda Rolfes.
Becca participated in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Los Angeles for one year after graduation from Notre Dame. She served as the biology department representative to the Graduate Student Organization during the 2002-2003 academic year, and was active on the social and service committees. Becca is the President of the Graduate Student Organization for the 2003-2004 academic year. She won an award in April 2003 for Innovative Research from the Graduate School.
In addition to her academic interests, Becca played defense on the department intermural soccer team for two years and enjoys playing softball. Outside of school, she volunteers for the Hospices of the National Capital Region as well as enjoying gardening and painting.
Becca defended her Ph.D. thesis in April, 2007. She is a post-doctoral associate at the Henry Jackson Foundation.
Dan entered the PhD program in 2000 after receiving a BS degree. His interests are in ecology and conservation biology. He has been studying insect diversity and the consequence of invasions by alien species at Dyke Marsh, VA.
Dan successfully completed his MS degree in the Barrows' laboratory in October of 2002, and defended his PhD dissertation in 2005. He was the recipient of the department's Graduate Student Award in 2004.
Dan successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. He is a tenure-track faculty member at Elmira College in New York.
Click here for a link to his personal web page.
Catherine entered the PhD program in 2003 with a BS degree from Penn State and she investigated butterfly ecology with Prof. Edd Barrows.
Cathy successfully defended her M.S. degree in 2005.
Simon entered the PhD program in 2000 after receiving MS degree in biochemistry from Yaounde, Cameroon. His interests are in immunology and he has joined the Taylor laboratory.
Simon successfully defended his dissertation in June of 2006. He is a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.
Amanda MunsonAmanda entered the PhD program in 1999 after obtaining a BS in Biology from University of Michigan. Her interests are in molecular and cellular biology. She studied the small G-protein Arl1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae under the direction of Prof. Anne Rosenwald. She received funding for two consecutive years from the ARCS foundation.
Amanda enjoys beating herself up on the soccer field while playing on the womens and co-ed intramural teams as well as enjoying other outdoor athletic activities.
Amanda successfully defended her dissertation in 2005. She is working as a post-doctoral associate in Anne Rosenwald's laboratory.
Brooke entered the PhD program in 2000 with a BS. Her interests are in animal behavior, specifically she investigated social learning and development of foraging tactics in bottlenose dolphins under the direction of Prof. Janet Mann. Brooke received a prestigious NSF pre-doctoral fellowship award in 2001 to support her studies. She was voted graduate student of the year in 2005.
Brooke successfully defended her dissertation in 2005! She is post-doctoral associate at the Florida International University.
Go to Brooke's personal homepage!
David was a graduate exchange student from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain. He entered the Biology PhD program in 2001. He is interested in evolutionary biology, and worked in the laboratory of Prof. Matthew Hamilton. His research project focused on the molecular evolution of the chloroplast genome in the Lecythidaceae tropical tree family.
David successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis in April 2007. He is a post-doctoral associate at the National Geographic Association.
Smilja entered the PhD program in 2001 after obtaining her BS degree in microbiology from Virginia Tech. She is interested in the molecular biology of parasites and joined the Elmendorf laboratory. Her project investigated the occurance and function of sterile transcripts in Giardia. Smilja received a Sigma Xi Grant in Aid of Research and a University Dissertation Award, 2005-2006
Smilja defended her Ph.D. dissertation with distinction in October of 2006. She is working on a project as a post-doctoral associate with Dr. Heidi Elmendorf.
Audrey entered the PhD program in 2003 and has joined the laboratory of Prof. Diane Taylor. Audrey is from France and enjoys playing soccer.
Congratulations to Audrey!! She defended her MS in 2006.
Jana entered the Ph.D. program in 2000 after obtaining a BS in biology from Stanford University. Her research interests are in animal behavior especially as it relates to sexual selection and she has been studying female mating strategies and sexual coercion in Bottlenose Dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia under the leadership of Prof. Janet Mann.
Jana has received an impressive list of honors and awards including the Clare Boothe Luce Scholarship (2000-2003), the Sigma Xi Research Award (2002), the National Geographic Society Research Grant Award (2002), was named as a University Fellow (2000-2004), and was part of the Georgetown intramural co-ed soccer 2002 championship team.
When Jana is not on a boat or in front of a computer she likes to spend her time playing sports, SCUBA diving, taking pictures, reading, and refinishing old furniture.
Go to Jana's personal webpage!
Jana successfully defended her dissertation thesis on April 15, 2005 earning distinction! Her dissertation work was so wonderful that she received the prestigious Harold N. Glassman Dissertation Award!