Overview
We recruit ~4-10 undergraduates each year to work on various research projects going on in our lab. We mainly recruit students to help in the lab or field from the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program at UM. We also hire ~2-4 undergraduates or post-graduates each year to assist in our field research activities such as the Kluane Red Squirrel Project. These latter positions will be advertised on the Lab News page in December/January of each year with positions running from February-September.
Former Undergraduate Students
Annie Kittendorf (Undergraduate Honor’s Thesis, 2019-2020)
Annie conducted a project on the effects of urbanization on boldness behavior in fox squirrels (Sciurus niger).
Bhargavi Ravishankar (Undergraduate research assistant, 2019-2020)
Stavi Tennenbaum (NSF REU, working on Undergraduate Honor’s Thesis, 2019-2020)
Zainab Almusawi (September 2015 to April 2017)
Zainab helped us in the lab to measure hormones in red squirrel fecal samples.
Ani Annadata (September 2015 to January 2016)
Ani assisted us in the lab to measure hormones in red squirrel feces. He’s now in medical school.
Bailey Balinski (September 2015 to May 2016)
Bailey helped coordinate a new project we started about the fox squirrels on the campus of the University of Michigan (https://twitter.com/umichsquirrels)
Sam Bower (September 2015 to August 2017)
Sam helped us in the lab to measure hormones in red squirrel feces.
Mark Castaneda (January 2018 to August 2018)
Mark helped us in the lab to measure hormones in red squirrel feces
Brie Coleman (2018-2019)
Brie coordinated data extraction from videos of the behavior of animals
Erica DesJardins (September 2015 to May 2016)
Erica helped coordinate a new project we started about the fox squirrels on the campus of the University of Michigan (https://twitter.com/umichsquirrels)
Odessa Fung (2018-2019)
Odessa helped us in the lab to measure hormones in red squirrel feces
Alex Geiger (September 2017 to April 2018)
Alex coordinated our work to measure stress hormones in hair.
Noah Johnson (2018-2019)
Noah conducted his own independent research project on color polymorphisms in mantids
Anam Khan (September 2015 to May 2016)
Anam helped us in the lab to measure hormones in red squirrels feces.
Berkley Lafreniere (August 2014 to May 2015)
Berkley completed a data analysis project about how ecological factors affect the tolerance of socially dominant meerkats for socially subordinate individuals.
Matt Mallozi (September 2016 to April 2017)
Matt helped us in the lab to measure hormones in red squirrel feces.
Meg Ryan (September 2015 to September 2017)
Meg helped us on a project to help us understand how prenatal stress affects animal personality in red squirrels.
Matt Sehrsweeney (May 2016 to May 2018)
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 is in the process of publishing is honors thesis project about the effects of stress on red squirrel vocalizations.
Brittany Tang (August 2014 to December 2015)
Brittany completed a literature analysis project and laboratory analyses about the association between maternal stress hormone levels and offspring fitness.
Abigail Vallie (October 2015 to April 2017)
Abigail helped us in the lab to measure hormones in red squirrel feces.
Caleb Vogt (August 2014 to May 2015)
Caleb worked on the physiological causes of variation in red squirrel personalities.
Erica Walker (2018-2019)
Abigail helped us in the lab to measure hormones in red squirrel feces.
Taylor Weeks (January 2016 to September 2016)
Taylor conducted a literature analysis on the effects of stress on glucocorticoid receptor expression.
Melanie Wellstein (August 2014 to May 2015)
Melanie completed a literature analysis project and laboratory analyses about the association between stress hormone levels and fitness.
Interested in Joining the Lab as an Undergraduate?
If you are a motivated and enthusiastic undergraduate student that wants to experience the process of scientific research and learn new laboratory or other technical skills, see here. We are always open to accepting new undergraduate students!