Lab Members Gallery

"I am adept at 'backpacking.' I like short trips full of activities that are out of my comfort zone. My journey to Guatemala was particularly intense and confronted me with a poverty that I had never seen before."

"I am a promoter of 'entomophagy,' or eating insects. I have raised hundreds of insects at home (worms, locusts, and crickets). My goal is to introduce this new food to people around me by creating new recipes."

"I am a recent graduate of the University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I graduated with my bachelor’s degrees in both Microbiology and Chemistry. During my time working in this lab, I participated in two separate research projects."

"In my free time I normally either read, play video games, or walk around the parks in Gainesville."

"I enjoy hiking on the weekends at local nature spots, as well as kayaking whenever possible."

"My research goal is to study the changes in the microbial gut community in fire ants in different environments and over time. I am focusing on differences in gut microbe activity according to the place of collection in reference to the surrounding distribution of material that can be foraged. I plan to dissect the ants and remove their digestive tracts to conduct DNA extractions and compare the differences in the microbiome throughout different collections in different seasons."

"I love traveling, especially with family and friends. Italy is the next place on my bucket list."

"Being around animals is one of my favorite pastimes, and I especially love spending time with my corgis."

"Aside from the lab, I am an ambassador for the Center for Undergraduate Research Board of Students (CURBS), and I serve on the executive board for the Bangladeshi Students’ Association as the Treasurer, starting this fall. I’m also a volunteer at Shands Hospital through the Child Life program and hope to attend medical school in the future."