Wildlife Evolution and Behavior
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute - Florida Atlantic University
Greg O'Corry-Crowe, Ph.D, wears many hats, but is primarily a biologist, specializing in marine mammals (even though he loves birds and bones!). His real passion involves crafting some sweet beats and belting out 'today's top hits' throughout the lab. When he isn't wrangling in the Arctic, he is cracking the metaphorical whip, because that's what you have to do when you have grad students and rogue technicians.
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Tatiana Ferrer, M.Sc., is the lab manager. She will methodically work through large numbers of samples, taking no prisoners and showing no mercy. Being a sketchy Spanish and Ukrainian mix makes her a bit unpredictable and her marriage to an Italian American means the Department of Homeland Security is having a field day with the paperwork. Previous training makes her deadly with a pipette.
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Jorge Monroy, B.Sc., is a molecular genetics "jack of all trades". Need something done - Jorge is your man. Proficient in several types of extraction through sequencing, Jorge is the ancient DNA lab expert and is currently developing new methods to extract DNA from low quality and low quantity samples.
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web Students
Laura Lesyna is a student in the MSO program.
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Lisa Lindenfeld is a student in the Environmental Sciences program.
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web Alumni
Brooke Potgieter, B.Sc., is the calm voice in a storm, the voice of reason when yet another lab crises is looming. Brooke helped establish the group and got the Ancient DNA facility off the ground. When not optimizing yet another lab protocol, she enjoys putting on another pair of socks to avoid freezing altogether when we're camped on a glacier.
Sarah Rodgers, M.Sc., is the multi-tasking queen. Whether it's another mesmerizingly complex genotyping plan that needs to be run, or a dolphin that needs to be photo-IDed, or an outreach initiative that needs to be launched, Sarah's got you covered. We miss the organized chaos....and that laugh!
Heidi Pagán, Ph.D., is the genomics whiz. Not one for bragging, we will have to do it for her. She will find a solution to your problem, run your samples, and analyze your data before you even realize it isn't working correctly. Basically, your mediocre lab skills are not needed here.
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Jeremie Brusini, Ph.D., Originally from France, Jeremie rounded out our mini United Nations team quite nicely. Interested in interactions between organisms and their environments, he worked on finding patterns of polymorphism and differences in the expression of genes involved in marine mammal immune responses against parasite infections. He can play a mean game of beach volleyball and has an uncanny ability to always pick perfectly ripe avocados. We were quite impressed.