theLab.htm

People - Present and Past in the Sanders Lab at

Bob Sanders If you linked to this page and missed the blurbs about my research and teaching or if you need contact information, go back to my home page. Return to Bob's Home Page
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Current Graduate Students
Sarah DeVaul. Sarah entered the Ph.D. program in Fall 2010 after working on projects as an undergraduate during the academic year and summer of 2009/2010. Her current research examines bacterivory by heterotrophic and mixotrophic protists, primarily from fresh waters.
Erin Graham. Erin began in the Biology Ph.D. program in Fall 2008 after earning an M.S. from the St Joseph's University. Her research project explores how rising temperatures and CO₂ levels may alter the relationship between several semi-tropical anemones and their symbiotic dinoflagellates.
Zaid McKie-Krisberg. Zaid joined the lab in Fall 2009 after earning a master's degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he studied the effects of climate change and nitrogen deposition on terrestrial plant systems. His project examines factors affecting the growth of mixotrophic algae isolated from Antarctic waters.
Grier Sellers. Grier joined the Biology Ph.D. program in Fall 2007. With an MS from the University of Maryland and considerable background in protistology, Grier began investigating ecological and evolutionary aspects of mixotrophy. His focus is on protists that retain functional chloroplasts (kleptoplasty) and other organelles from species that they ingest as food. In particular, he is studing a dinoflagellate that ingests and retains chloroplasts, and sometimes nuclei, from its prey.
Former Graduate Students
Adam Heinze. Adam defended his dissertation in March 2009. His research focused on factors that affect the temporal and depth distributions of mixotrophic algae in the genus Dinobryon. He also contributed to studies in examining ultraviolet radiation effects on protists. Adam is currently an Assistant Professor at Alvernia University and continues to collaborate with members of the lab.
Niveen Ismail. Niveen defended her M.S. degree in July 2010. Her research on bioaccumulation of PCBs by marine terrapins included field collections in PCB-impacted and relatively uncontaminated areas of New Jersey and New York. At the right she is taking blood samples from a terrapin that was later released back into its natural environment. Niveen entered an Environmental Engineering Ph.D. program at Stanford University in fall 2010.
Amy Macaluso. Amy successfully defended her Ph.D. in July 2010. Her research and publications address the effects of ultraviolet radiation and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) on protists in freshwater food webs.
Tom Sardina. Tom finished a master's degree in the Biology Department in May 2001. His thesis research involved the ability of two species of freshwater planktonic ciliates to use photoenzymatic repair mechanisms against damage from ultraviolet radiation. Tom then attended Temple University School of Dentistry and currently practices dentistry in Pennsylvania.
Don Schoener. Don received an M.S. degree in Biology in August 2005. His thesis concerned the effects of ultraviolet radiation on two marine ciliates in the genus Parauronema that were isolated from different climatic zones. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Marine Sciences at the University of Connecticut.
Tina Sung. Tina finished her master's degree in the Biology Department in the summer of 2001. Her research project addressed the interactive effects of temperature and ultraviolet radiation on the marine ciliate, Parauronema acutum. Tina enrolled in the Veterinarian Medicine program at The University of Pennsylvania in the Fall 2001 and received her DVM in 2006.
Yolanda (Wilkerson) Kirksey. Yolanda was a Future Faculty Fellow who finished her M.A. degree in the Biology Department in 1999. Her thesis was entitled "Studies on the Microbial Assessment and Control of Environmental Contaminants. Since getting her degree at Temple, Yolanda has worked in pharmaceutical laboratories, including Merck Research Laboratories, Bristol-Myer Squibb, and Wyeth Research.

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS / VISITING RESEARCHERS
Scott Fay. Scott moved to the lab in April 2010 after receiving his Ph.D. from the Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley. He also was lab manager of the Molecular Phylogenetics Lab, UC Museum of Paleontology. His Ph.D. work was on the ecology and evolution of foraminifera with dinoflagellate symbionts. At Temple, he is working on projects involving mixotrophy and kleptoplasty in Antarctic protists. He participated in our research voyage in the Ross Sea, Antarctica in January/February 2011.
Christa Speekmann. Christa joined the lab in July 2005 after receiving her Ph.D. from the Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin. She worked on projects investigating the effects of UV on the food web, including laboratory studies on closely related ciliates isolated from different geographical locations until September 2007 when she began an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship at USDA. Currently, Christa is an Import Specialist at AAAS/ USDA-APHIS.
An-Yi Tsai. An-Yi was a Visiting Research Scholar for the 2009 - 2010 academic year. He received his Ph.D. from National Taiwan Ocean University and published numerous papers addressing ecological interactions between oceanic nanoflagellates and picoplankton. He returned to a faculty position at National Taiwan Ocean University in August 2010.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Roni Devassy. Roni starts in the lab for the 2010-2011 academic year. He is working on a project investigating aspects of the sea anemone - dinoflagellate symbiosis.
Lance Dixon. Lance was in the lab for the 2009-2010 academic year until he graduated with a B.S. in Biology from Temple in May 2010. He worked with graduate student Erin Graham investigating aspects of the sea anemone - dinoflagellate symbiosis.
Jonathan Swinden. Jon began working in the lab in Spring semester 2008. He contributed to numerous projects investigating heterotrophic and mixotrophic protist ecology, including designing one to examine excretion of nutrients. Jon graduated in May 2009 with plans to pursue a career in medicine.
Corinne Truesdale. Corinne has been working on experiments to evalute environmental factors that affect encystment by algae in the chrysophyte genus Dinobryon. She graduated in May 2009, took a temporary position as an ecological observer on fishing vessels off the coast of Alaska, and now is on an internship studying sea cows and artisanal fisheries in Madagascar.
Novneet Sahu. Novneet worked in the lab beginning in Fall 2006. He participated on a projects investigating factors that affect the feeding of the mixotrophic flagellate Dinobryon in the laboratory and in a lake in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He also designed a project to determine how additional stressors affected the response of ciliates to UV radiation. Novneet graduated in December 2007 with a B.S. in Biology and started medical school in Fall 2008.
Vinh Nguyen. Vinh worked on a project in the summer of 2007 that examined the ability of ciliates to sense and respond to UV radiation.
Ann Christine Olsson Allen. Ann Christine worked in the lab from 2003-2004. She worked on a project investigating photoprotective compounds in aquatic protists and contributed to several other projects. She graduated in May 2004 with a B.S. in Environmental Studies. She won the 2004 Environmental Studies Award for academic excellence, projects completed and involvement in extracurricular environmental activities.
Robyn Reinmiller. Robyn worked in the lab during the academic year 2001-2002. She worked on a project involving the effects of UV radiation on the predator-prey relationship of Daphnia and a ciliate. Robyn graduated in December 2002 and was honored with the Andrea Broad Award in Biological Sciences. We haven't heard from her in a few years; she was by Merck & Company and attending graduate school part-time.
Rebecca Roth. Reb worked in the lab during the summer and fall of 2000. She helped in isolating protists for use in our first UV radiation project. She graduated with a B.S. in Temple's Environmental Studies program in 2003 and began working for an environmental consulting firm.
Erin Gordon. Erin worked in the lab during the summer of 2000 - between her junior and senior years at Howard University. She was in a program run by Temple University's College of Science and Technology and Temple University Medical School to offer research experience to undergraduates. Erin's project was to isolate a photoprotective compound from a marine ciliate. She started in the Masters degree program in Marine Biology at San Francisco State University in Fall 2001.
Ayasha Williams. Ayasha was a Biology major at Temple who worked on lab projects addressing the role of growth rate on nutrient recycling and on the tolerance of a marine ciliate to UV-B exposure. She graduated with "Distinction in Biology" in May 2000, received her M.D. at Temple University Medical School and completed a residency at Temple University Hospital.
Anita Michael. Anita was a Biology major at Temple. Her work in the lab involved tolerance of a marine ciliate to UV-A and UV-B exposure. She graduated with "Distinction in Biology" in May 2000.
Jean Davidson. Jean was a Biology major at Temple who graduated with "Distinction in Biology" in May 1999. She worked on a project examining the ability of a mixotrophic flagellate, Ochromonas sp., to grow on dissolved organic substances. This became part of a manuscript in Microbial Ecology (Jean is a coauthor - see Sanders' publications). She received her M.D. from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 2003 and is currently a physician focusing on internal medicine.

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