School of Humanities and Sciences
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 plants adapt to changing environments across temporal and spatial scales. My current project integrates biogeographic analyses and phylogenetic data to understand the evolutionary and ecological forces shaping species traits and distributions.
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 in wetland and grassland ecosystems in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In the Daru Lab, I am excited to continue investigating how plants respond to environmental changes over evolutionary timescales, with the ultimate goal of informing habitat restoration management and conserving biodiversity worldwide. -
Courtney Klepac
Postdoctoral Scholar, Hopkins Marine Station
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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Christopher Knight
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2019
BioChris (he/him) is a Biology PhD candidate, a Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow, and a National Geographic Explorer. He employs a planetary health approach to understand the linkages between ecosystem and human health - with the goal of improving accessibility to safe and nutritious seafood. Chris investigates the social and ecological connections of ciguatera poisoning, a debilitating seafood-borne disease, across Kiribati in collaboration with the Kiribati Government and the Pacific Planetary Health Initiative. As a US Fulbright Fellow in Italy, he explores how climate change impacts the nutritional content of seafood and the potential consequences for human nutrition. Chris is deeply interested in environmental justice issues and is drawn to working on research questions and solutions that can improve the lives of others and minimize social and economic inequalities. Furthermore, he strives to foster an inclusive and welcoming community in academia. Chris was a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, a Fulbright Fellow to Chile, and earned a MS in Biology from San Diego State University, as well as a BA in both Ecology and Spanish from the University of California, Davis. Chris is co-advised by Dr. Larry Crowder and Dr. Fiorenza Micheli.
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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
BioJoy is interested in understanding how kelp forests and mangroves respond to simultaneous anthropogenic pressures and how to increase effectiveness of marine protected areas. 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 or embroidering on her couch.
