Biology
Showing 1-35 of 35 Results
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Dane Kawano
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2019
BioBorn and raised in Hawaii. Moved to Seattle, WA to study biology and biochemistry at the University of Washington. After graduating, I moved to Bethesda, MD to work at the NIH as an IRTA fellow. Currently in the Shen Lab studying microtubule biology in C. elegans neurons
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Joe Kesler
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2024
BioI am a Ph.D. student studying evolutionary ecology and biogeography in the Daru Lab. My research focuses on how species assemblages evolve and shift with changing environments across temporal and spatial scales. My current project integrates biogeographic analyses and phylogenetic data to understand the evolutionary and ecological forces shaping the biodiversity of the world's marine life.
In June 2023, I received a B.S. in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution from UC San Diego, where I worked primarily with Professor Elsa Cleland, researching the demography of the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) and how its traits vary across different climates within the state. I also participated in two other labs, broadly investigating plant-pollinator interactions and plant genetics respectively. After graduating, I assisted the Green Biome Institute at CSU East Bay by collecting DNA samples of endangered California plant species, followed by work as a habitat restoration technician for Recon Environmental in the marshes around the San Francisco Bay Area.
In the Daru Lab, I am excited to investigate how marine species respond to environmental changes over varied timescales, with the ultimate goal of informing habitat restoration management and conserving biodiversity worldwide. -
Courtney Klepac
Basic Life Res Scientist
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCourtney will be involved with mapping coral heat resistance across multiple Pacific reefs as part of a collaborative (NSF) Super Reefs project, where she will train and collaborate with local students and researchers on coral tolerance experiments. By investigating the influence of environment, physiological plasticity, and genetic adaptation on the stress tolerance scope of corals, her research aims are to understand how corals will respond to future climate change and identify putatively tolerant corals for management.
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Elif Gediz Kocaoglan
Postdoctoral Scholar, Biology
BioGediz completed her PhD in Bioengineering from Imperial College London. She specialized in plant synthetic biology, developed molecular tools and used regeneration as a model development process to test the functionality of these tools. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Dinneny Lab, where she explores the form-function relationship of the root epidermis and investigates how plants adapt to environmental stress. By integrating biodiversity with synthetic biology approaches, her work aims to uncover design constraints for developing climate-resilient plants.
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Ron Kopito
Professor of Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur laboratory use state-of-the-art cell biological, genetic and systems-level approaches to understand how proteins are correctly synthesized, folded and assembled in the mammalian secretory pathway, how errors in this process are detected and how abnormal proteins are destroyed by the ubiquitin-proteasome system.
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Joy Kumagai
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2022
Other Tech - Graduate, BiologyBioJoy is interested in the ways conservation and disease affect the resilience of coastal foundational species. Her current focus includes studying how seagrasses and kelp forests respond to simultaneous pressures, including marine heatwaves and disease dynamics, and how marine protected areas may affect the resistance and recovery of these ecosystems. She is passionate about useful, transdisciplinary research that increases the wellbeing of people through the sustainable management of marine ecosystems. Using her skillset in GIS, her previous work focused on marine conservation of coastal ecosystems, spanning valuing carbon stocks within Mexico to developing metrics quantifying the extent of area-based conservation. Additionally, she worked for IPBES at the science-policy interface implementing data management within international assessments focused on biodiversity and ecosystem services. When not at her desk, she likes to be out in nature, hiking, swimming, or knitting.
