Principal Investigator
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Graduate Students
Mena Davidson (Biopsychology Ph.D. student, 2018-present)
John Paul Williams Soriano (Biopsychology Ph.D. student, 2021-present)
Mengziao Zhang (SEAS MSc. Student, 2022-present)
Undergraduate Students
Leta Bryan (BCN Honors Thesis Student, 2021-present)
Erica Griffin (BCN Honors Thesis Student, 2023-present)
William Gonzalez (2020-present)
Christina Lai (2021-present)
Irene Wang (2022-present)
Dantzer Lab Alumni
Dr. Lauren Petrullo (NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology, 2020-2023)
Lauren was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab from 2020-2023. She studied the red squirrel developmental microbiome at the intersection of maternal effects, ecological change, and adaptive plasticity. She is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at The University of Arizona .
Dr. Matt Gaidica (NASA TRISH Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019-2023)
Matt was a NASA TRISH Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab from 2019-2023. He is now an Assistant Professor and the director of the Neurotech Hub at Washington University.
Charlotte Devitz (EEB MSc. student, 2018-2020)
Charlotte was an EEB MSc. Student that was in the Dantzer Lab from 2018-2020 where she studied the effects of urbanization on behavioral syndromes in Fox Squirrels (Sciurus niger). Charlotte recently graduated and will be working as a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota with Dr. Emilie Snell-Rood.
Zoë Goodrow (MSc. Student, 2018-2019)
Zoë was an MSc. Student in Conservation Ecology in SEAS that was in the Dantzer Lab from 2018-2019 where she studied the experimental evolution of animal personality in North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) as a part of the Kluane Red Squirrel Project. Zoë then went on to be a wildlife biology technician for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Madison, WI.
Dr. Sarah Guindre-Parker (NSERC PDF, 2017-2019)
Sarah was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab from 2017-2019 (co-supervised by Andrew McAdam at the University of Guelph). She studied how fluctuations in population density and food abundance have shaped the physiology and fitness of North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) as a part of the Kluane Red Squirrel Project.(see her recent publication in Biology Letters on this topic!). She is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology at Kennesaw State University where she is actively recruiting graduate students.
Deb Ho (MS Student, 2021-2022)
Deb joined our research group as an undergraduate in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic/lockdown. She worked tirelessly to develop a project with Dr. Matt Gaidica and completed an undergraduate honors thesis in our lab. She then joined us as a MS Student from 2021-2022 where she investigated how natural selection operates on juvenile red squirrel personalities. Deb is now a Ph.D. student at Emory University working with Dr. Aubrey Kelly.
Aura Raulo (Post-graduate student, 2014-2016)
Aura was a post-graduate student from the University of Helsinki and visited the research group while it was based in Cambridge and then at the University of Michigan. She completed a literature analysis project about the physiological mechanisms underlying variation in the expression of social behavior (Raulo & Dantzer 2018, Ecology & Evolution). Aura completed her Ph.D. at Oxford University and is now a postdoc there.
Dr. Tricia Rubi (NSF PDF, 2016-2018)
Tricia was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow. Her work focused on epigenetic, genetic, and behavioral patterns across an ecological range expansion in white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in Michigan. She used historic museum specimens to conduct analyses on spatial and temporal patterns in DNA methylation across this range expansion (check out our recent preprint). Tricia then went on to do a postdoc in John Taylor’s lab at the University of Victoria.
Anne Sabol (Biopsychology MSc. student, 2016-2018)
Anne was a MSc. student in the Biopsychology Area at UM studying social networks and sociality in prairie voles. Anne is now a Ph.D. student (and Presidential Fellow!) at Florida International University. Click the link for more info about Anne.
Francesca Santicchia (Visiting Ph.D. student, 2016-2017)
Francesca was a a Ph.D. student at the Univ. Insubria working on the Alpine Squirrel Population Ecology Project with Prof. Luc Wauters. Her work in our lab explored how invasive species negatively impacted endemic species by increasing stress levels in the native species. She studied how the American grey squirrel increased stress levels of the endangered Eurasian red squirrels in Italy, producing an excellent manuscript that was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. Read about this work on this blog Francesca wrote for the Journal of Animal Ecology.
Matt Sehrsweeney (Undergraduate student, 2016-2018)
As an undergraduate at UM, Matt conducted a survey to better understand the community relations between the Kluane Red Squirrel Project and the local community in the Yukon (published online here). Matt was also the head field technician for the Kluane Red Squirrel Project in Summer 2017 and even found time to publish his honors thesis project about the effects of stress on red squirrel vocalizations (see here). He then went on to complete a MSc. in Conservation Ecology in the School for Environment and Sustainability at UM. Follow Matt on Twitter @msehrsweeney
Dr. Freya van Kesteren (Postdoc, 2015-2017)
Freya was a postdoc in the early stages of the Dantzer Lab studying the effects of maternal stress on offspring physiology. She is now working as a research technician at Michigan State University but still dreaming about squirrels.
Sarah Westrick (Biopsychology Ph.D, 2015-2020)
Sarah was a Biopsychology Ph.D. student that was in the Dantzer Lab from 2015-2020 where she studied the effects of maternal behavior on offspring behavior and stress physiology in North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) as a part of the Kluane Red Squirrel Project. Sarah just recently graduated and will be working on a NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship with Dr. Eva Fischer at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Tori Underhill, MSc. (Lab Manager, 2019- 2020)
Tori was an incredible lab manager and kept all of us organized from 2019-2020. Tori is now a Ph.D. student with Dr. Susan Gill.
Dr. Cam Venable (Postdoc, 2019-2020)
Cam was a postdoc in the Dantzer Lab examining how temperature changes in Yukon impact the reproductive patterns and glucocorticoids of red squirrels. Cam then went on to do a postdoc with Dr. Robin Tinghitella.
Former Field Technicians
Field technicians are an incredibly important part of my research projects. Below is a list of field technicians for each project and their last known position/whereabouts.
Kluane Red Squirrel Project:
Frances Stewart (2010) – Assistant Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University
Stacie Evans (2012) – Living/working in Haines, AK
Dylan Pond (2012) – MSc. Student at Univ. Manitoba
Monica Cooper (2015) – MSc. student at University of Wisconsin, Madison with Jonathan Pauli
Sam Sonnega (2015) – Now a MSc. student at Trent University with Dennis Murray
Sean Konkolics (2016) – Now a MSc. student at the University of Alberta with Stan Boutin
Claire Hoffmann (2016) – Now a Ph.D. student at Michigan State University
Matt Sehrsweeney (2016, 2017) – Now a MSc. student in Conservation Ecology in the School for Environment and Sustainability at UM.
Zach Fogel (2016, 2017) – Currently working field technician jobs
Laura Porter (2017) – Currently working field technician jobs
Noah Israel (2017-2018) – Working hard in on squirrels with Andreas Chavez
Alex Hare (2018) – now a Ph.D. student at Univ. Guelph
Coral Frenette-Ling (2018) – Currently working field technician jobs
Austin Rife (2018) – Currently working field technician jobs
Lindsay Millward (2019) – applying for graduate school
Laura Eliuk (2019) – MSc. student at University of Victoria
Andrew DeSana (2019-2020) – Applying for Ph.D. positions
Cesar Estien (2019) – Ph.D. student at University California, Berkeley with Chris Schell
Christine Kallenberg (2019) – working field technician jobs
Stavi Tennenbaum (2019) – Ph.D. student at Princeton University with Bridgett vonHoldt
Adriana Cintron Santiago (2020) – working field technician jobs
Mouse (Peromyscus) Project:
Greg Pandelis (2016) – Undergrad at Univ Michigan
Abbie Bristol (2017) – NSF REU at UMBS
Modeline Celestine (2018) – NSF REU at UMBS
Mari Rodriguez (2018) – NSF REU at UMBS