School of Humanities and Sciences
Showing 1-100 of 127 Results
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Rodrigo Bello Carvalho
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2023
BioI am a field biologist deeply passionate about wildlife ecology and conservation. My academic and professional journey bridges research, fieldwork, and environmental stewardship across some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems.
My work focuses on understanding the functional role of megafauna (large-bodied vertebrates) in shaping tropical ecosystems through processes such as frugivory, herbivory, and seed dispersal. I am particularly interested in how savanna biodiversity, structure, and functioning respond to the loss of megafauna (defaunation), and how ecological insights can inform restoration and conservation strategies in a rapidly changing world.
I hold a Master’s degree in Biodiversity Conservation and Management from the University of Oxford (2021), and graduated with honors in Biological Sciences (B.Sc., 2017) and Biology Teaching (B.Ed., 2018) from the University of Brasília (UnB). My ecological journey began at UnB’s Ecosystem Ecology Lab (2014–2018) under Prof. Mercedes Bustamante, where I first engaged with Cerrado ecology and savanna dynamics.
Driven by a commitment to applied conservation, I worked at the Brasília Zoological Garden Foundation (2018) and taught Science and Biology in Brasília’s private schools (2019), experiences that deepened my belief in connecting ecological science and conservation with communities.
At Oxford’s Ecosystems Lab (2020–2021), I studied defaunation and seed dispersal in the Cerrado, working under Dr. Imma Oliveras and Prof. Yadvinder Malhi. I later joined Brazil’s national environmental agency (ICMBio) as an Environmental Analyst and Park Ranger (2022–2023), where I was based in the Western Brazilian Amazon, engaging in biodiversity monitoring, sustainable management of natural resources, and frontline conservation enforcement of three Conservation Units within the Purus River Basin.
Currently, I am pursuing a PhD in Biology at Stanford University in the Dirzo Lab, where my research explores megafauna-ecosystem interactions across Brazilian and African savannas, with a focus on how defaunation reshapes ecosystems. I also collaborate with UNESP’s Bird Ecology Lab on frugivory, seed dispersal, and ecological restoration in the Atlantic Forest. -
Tristram O'Brien Dodge
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2021
BioI'm a PhD student in the Schumer Lab, interested in adaptation, hybridization, genome structure, and conservation.
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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. -
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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Joy Kumagai
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2022
BioJoy 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.
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Shaili Mathur
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2021
BioI'm a PhD student in the Eco/Evo track in the Biology department at Stanford. I was at UCLA as an undergraduate, where I majored in Computational and Systems Biology and minored in Mathematics, and also completed my MS in Bioinformatics with Prof. Van Savage through the Departmental Scholar Program. I am interested in using theory and experimental techniques to understand evolutionary dynamics, information processing in biological systems, and complexity in biological systems.
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Maike Morrison
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2020
Teaching Asst-Graduate, BiologyBioI am a PhD candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Stanford University working with Noah Rosenberg. I build mathematical tools to answer biological questions, currently with a focus on population genetics, biodiversity, microbiomes, and cancer.
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Oliver Nguyen
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2021
BioOliver (they/them) is a PhD Student at Stanford's Department of Biology and the Center for Conservation Biology. They are interested in the intersection of urban ecology and environmental justice and is working on a project that looks at inequity and residential segregation in multiple US cities and how that impacts human and avian communities. They are passionate about community-based research and using spatial data, web development, and data visualization to create tools for local communities/organizations combatting environmental injustice. They earned their BA in Biology and Environmental Studies at Tufts University and has previously worked at Point Blue Conservation Science, NASA DEVELOP, MGGG Redistricting Lab, and the Center for Health and Environmental Justice.
