PEOPLE

ALUMNI

PATRICK STILLSON

Graduate student (2020-2024)

Patrick performed comparative analyses of the Caballeronia genome, investigated how Caballeronia symbiont mediates bug thermal tolerance, and explored variation in symbiont gene expression under different temperature regimes. He is currently a postdoc in the Gerardo Lab at Emory.

ALY BLANTON

Graduate student (2021-2025)

Aly quantified symbiont-mediated pesticide degradation in leaffooted bugs and Colorado potato beetle and measured the effects of pesticide degrading bacteria on insect survival of pesticide challenge. She is currently a postdoc in the Bäckhed Lab at the University of Gothenburg.

JON ADAMSON

Lab technician (Spring 2020-Fall 2022)

Jon joined as a lab tech and became enthralled by the interplay between insect pests, their microbial symbionts, and the plants the pests eat. He did a little bit of everything, from raising plants to sequencing microbiome samples. Jon is currently applying his skills in microbial ecology as a wastewater operator in Denver, CO.

TANNER DABBERT

Lab tech (Spring 2025) & Undergraduate research assistant (Fall 2023-Fall 2024)

Tanner did everything from raising plants and insects to isolating and sequencing bacteria, but he worked primarily with our Colorado potato beetles and yellow margined leaf beetles, attempting to learn more about how their gut microbiota helps them to consume plant defense toxins. He currently works at Cora Science.

JOHN TEODOSIO

Undergraduate research assistant (Fall 2023-Spring 2025)

John worked with Bibek Parajuli to investigate the cost-benefit trade offs of the bug-Caballeronia symbiotic association using Leptoglossus phyllopus as a model organism.

ARMEEN NASIR

Undergraduate research assistant (Spring 2024-Summer 2024)

Armeen joined the lab as a McNair scholar. She conducted an independent project investigating the potential for soil-mediated Caballeronia transmission among leaffooted bugs.

HINH CAO

Undergraduate research assistant (Spring 2024-Spring 2025)

Hinh joined the lab through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). He measured the ability of gut microbes of Microtheca ochroloma (the yellow margined leaf beetle) to degrade a natural toxin of solanaceous plants, as well as heroically caring for our plants and insects for many months.

AMELIA MANNS

Undergraduate research assistant (Fall 2022-Spring 2024)

Amelia worked with Rachel Vargas and helped to generate an isolate library of gut bacteria from grasshoppers, beetles, and caterpillars. For her independent project, she infected grasshoppers with a Methylorubrum to test whether it was pathogenic.

JUANITA ADRIANA MARTINEZ

Undergraduate research assistant (Summer 2022-Spring 2024)

Adriana worked with Aly Blanton on a project investigating symbiotic pesticide degradation in the bug-Caballeronia symbiosis, and conducted her final research project on symbiotic pesticide detoxification by the Colorado potato beetle's gut microbiome. She is currently a PhD student at UT Dallas.

KAISY MARTINEZ

Undergraduate research assistant & LSAMP student (Summer 2021-Fall 2024)

Kaisy joined the lab as an LSAMP student from Tarrant Community College, continued as a student employee, and eventually transferred to UTA. She worked with Patrick Stillson to test whether the outcomes of the bug-Caballeronia symbiosis are temperature dependent and conducted an independent research project on the comparative genomics of Caballeronia symbionts.

ANTHONY NGUYEN

Undergraduate research assistant (Spring 2023-Fall 2024)

Anthony was inteersted in the gut microbiome and applications of microbes to bioremediation. He worked with Aly Blanton on pesticide degradation by symbionts of Leptoglossus.

SAMANTHA MARTINEZ

Undergraduate research assistant & UROP student (Summer 2022 - Summer 2023)

Sam assisted Bibek Parajuli with an experiment examining how association with leaf-footed bugs helps (or harms) the fitness of Caballeronia bacteria.

LILLIAN STORMHAWK

Honors thesis project (Fall 2022-Spring 2023)

Lillian worked with Aly Blanton and conducted her honor's senior thesis in the lab, comparing different methods for introducing Caballeronia into Leptoglossus’ environment to find the method with the highest efficacy. She is currently teaching high school biology.

JEREMY WILSON

Undergraduate research assistant (Summer 2022-Fall 2022)

Jeremy assisted Rachel Vargas with research on the gut microbiome of the grasshoppers Schistocerca americana and Schistocerca lineata.

LEILANI LILLY

Undergraduate research assistant & LSAMP student (Spring 2020-Fall 2021)

Leilani worked on several projects, including an experiment comparing the fitness outcomes of different Caballeronia strains for bugs, and a comparative summary of similarities and differences between the bug-Caballeronia and legume-Rhizobium symbioses. Leilani went on to become a research associate at SRFC Bio.

ARSHYA TEHRANI

Undergraduate research assistant (Spring 2020-Spring 2021)

Arshya worked on projects including calculation of the growth speed of the lab's Caballeronia isolates at different temperatures and an experiment comparing the fitness outcomes of different Caballeronia strains. He is now a PhD student at UT Dallas studying antimicrobial resistance.

SHAIKH ULLAHANSARI

Undergraduate research assistant (Spring 2020-Fall 2020)

Shaikh researched the differences in benefits conferred to hosts by different strains of Caballeronia, and also managed to overcome his fear of bugs while in our lab! Shaikh was admitted to the Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP) with plans to continue on to medical school.