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Brandon S. Cooper
Associate Professor, PhD Indiana University-Bloomington e: brandon . cooper umontana edu p: 406 - five 3 one - 8 six zero 6 Google Scholar I am an evolutionary geneticist broadly interested in population biology and endosymbiosis. Prior to my current role, I was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at UC Davis with Prof. Michael Turelli. Most of my work focuses on explaining the spread and maintenance of endosymbiotic Wolbachia infections in insects. I also enjoy thinking about hybridization/introgression, reproductive isolation and speciation, and other evolutionary/population/genetic problems. |
the gang
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Basabi Bagchi (April 2023 start)
Incoming Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD Candidate, Ashoka University Basabi did her Bachelors and Masters in Microbiology and Biochemistry, and she is currently finishing her PhD in Evolutionary Immunology with Prof. Imroze Khan. Basabi is broadly interested in host-microbe interactions and immunology. In our lab, Basabi will leverage her integrative skillset to better understand how Wolbachia interact with their hosts and other microbes, and how those interactions shape Wolbachia spread and prevalence in nature. |
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Will Conner
Bioinformatics Research Assistant, Cat wrangler, BS UC Davis Will evaluates modes of Wolbachia acquisition and patterns of genomic variation in many Wolbachia-infected host species. More generally, Will is involved in almost all of the computational work in the lab, and his expertise is crucial to the progress we are making in several systems. |
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Michael T.J. Hague
Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD U Virginia Website Mike joined our group after completing his dissertation research in Butch Brodie's lab at UVA, and he is broadly interested in coevolution and interactions between species. Mike's postdoctoral work is evaluating Wolbachia effects on host phenotypes and fitness in several systems. He is interested in connecting patterns of genetic and cellular variation to phenotypes that influence Wolbachia spread in nature. His recent work published in Current Biology shows the massive progress he is making towards this goal. |
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Lacey Kludt
Postbac researcher, BS U Montana Lacey just joined the lab and is interested in gaining new skills. She is currently working with Dylan Shropshire on projects related to CI. We are excited to see what she accomplishes this summer. |
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Nitin Ravikanthachari (starting May 2023) Incoming Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD Candidate, U South Carolina Website Nitin is a broadly trained naturalist interested in evolution, ecology and genomics. His current research with Prof. Carol Boggs aims to understand maladaptation in species interactions with a special focus on herbivore-plant interactions. Nitin is interested in extending his work to host-Wolbachia interactions. In our lab, Nitin will develop projects that leverage his integrative interests and skills to better understand the causes and consequences of Wolbachia spread through time and space. |
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Dylan Shropshire (Assistant Professor at Lehigh starting fall 2023)
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD Vanderbilt U Website Dylan is an NSF postdoctoral fellow in our lab broadly focused on evaluating the genetic and mechanistic basis of CI-strength variation in divergent Wolbachia-infected Drosophila host systems. This work builds on Dylan's impressive dissertation work in the Bordenstein lab at Vanderbilt that contributed to the discovery of genes that induce and rescue CI. Dylan's recent work published in mBio shows the massive progress he is making towards understanding causes of CI-strength variation. |
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John Statz
CMMB Graduate Student, BS U Minnesota Duluth John joined our group as a PhD student in the spring of 2021. John is broadly interested in host-microbe interactions and molecular evolution. John's prior research involved developing primate models for human diseases using CRISPR/Cas9. We are excited to see where John's ideas take him. |
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John W. Terbot II
Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD U Kentucky Terbot earned their PhD at the University of Kentucky studying the social behavior of pine sawfly larvae advised by Catherine Linnen. His work in the Cooper lab is currently focused on SARS-CoV-2 evolution through time and space, in collaboration with the labs of Profs. Jeff Good at UM and Jeff Jensen at Arizona State University. |
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Bailey Underwood
Undergraduate, U Montana Bailey recently joined the lab after conducting undergraduate research with Prof. Angie Luis. Bailey is generally interested in host-pathogen interactions and disease ecology. In our lab, Bailey is interested in learning molecular-genetic skills. She is currently working with Mike Hague on projects investigating the causes and consequences of variable symbiont transmission. |
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Kelley Van Vaerenberghe
EE Graduate Student, BS U Ottawa Kelley joined our group after working as a lab manager with Justin Blumenstiel at U Kansas for several years. In the Blumenstiel lab Kelley developed genetic tools to test evolutionary hypotheses about piRNA machinery function. Kelley is broadly interested in genomic conflict and excited to dive into host-Wolbachia interactions. He recently published his first work from the lab in PNAS. |
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Ella Walters
Undergraduate Honors student, U Montana Ella joined the lab in the fall of 2022 as a sophomore honors student. Ella is interested in gaining research experience over the next few years as she plans for a career in genetic counseling. This will include completing an honors thesis in the lab. Ella is starting hour journey by working with Dylan Shropshire on projects related to cytoplasmic incompatibility. |
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Tim Wheeler
Senior Researcher, BS & MS U Montana Website Tim recently finished an MS in John McCutcheon's lab working on the taxonomy of lichens. Tim is an amazing naturalist and brings a lot of knowledge to the lab with emphasis on fungi in and around western Montana. Tim is also a fantastic photographer. See more here. |
Gone, but not forgotten...
Lindsay Axelrod, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently in industry
Jessica Bailey, Laboratory Technician/Rotation grad, U Montana
Jennifer Blanc, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently PhD student at U Chicago
Peter Burkard, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently in medical school
Nick Fisher, Undergraduate, Indiana University, currently in medical school
Paul Ginsberg, Research Technician, UC Davis, currently a PhD student at U Georgia
Emily Hamant, Research Technician, U Montana, currently somewhere in Idaho preparing for graduate school at TBD
Madilyn Head, Research Technician, U Montana, currently a technician in the Secor lab at UM
Liz Heaton, Research Technician, U Montana, currently a UM student
Isaac Humble, Undergraduate, U Montana, currently living the dream in Hawaii
John Kaiser, Rotation grad, currently at FYR Diagnostics
Andy Katznelson, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently a graduate student at U Cambridge
Kevin Kim, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently a research technician with Michael Turelli
Maria Kirby, Laboratory Technician, U Montana, currently applying to Pharmacy school
Erin Markham, Undergraduate, U Montana, currently at the McLaughlin Research Institute
Catherine Mayo, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently in industry
Megan Meany, Laboratory Manager, U Montana, currently a PhD student at U Georgia
Dawit Mengistu, Laboratory Technician, U Montana, currently a researcher in the Secor lab at UM
Huong Nguyen, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently an MS student at UC Berkeley
Paighton Noel, Undergraduate/postbac, U Montana, currently in med school at the University of Utah
Jasmine Osei-Enin, Undergraduate, McNair Scholar, UC Davis, currently a researcher in Grace Lee's lab
Brooke Peckenpaugh, Research Technician, UC Davis, currently a PhD student at Indiana U
Sophia Richter, High school researcher, U Montana, currently an undergraduate at Princeton
Federica Sartori, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently a PhD student at NYU
Signe White, Research Technician, Indiana University, currently a PhD student at Emory U
Luna dog. RIP
Jessica Bailey, Laboratory Technician/Rotation grad, U Montana
Jennifer Blanc, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently PhD student at U Chicago
Peter Burkard, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently in medical school
Nick Fisher, Undergraduate, Indiana University, currently in medical school
Paul Ginsberg, Research Technician, UC Davis, currently a PhD student at U Georgia
Emily Hamant, Research Technician, U Montana, currently somewhere in Idaho preparing for graduate school at TBD
Madilyn Head, Research Technician, U Montana, currently a technician in the Secor lab at UM
Liz Heaton, Research Technician, U Montana, currently a UM student
Isaac Humble, Undergraduate, U Montana, currently living the dream in Hawaii
John Kaiser, Rotation grad, currently at FYR Diagnostics
Andy Katznelson, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently a graduate student at U Cambridge
Kevin Kim, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently a research technician with Michael Turelli
Maria Kirby, Laboratory Technician, U Montana, currently applying to Pharmacy school
Erin Markham, Undergraduate, U Montana, currently at the McLaughlin Research Institute
Catherine Mayo, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently in industry
Megan Meany, Laboratory Manager, U Montana, currently a PhD student at U Georgia
Dawit Mengistu, Laboratory Technician, U Montana, currently a researcher in the Secor lab at UM
Huong Nguyen, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently an MS student at UC Berkeley
Paighton Noel, Undergraduate/postbac, U Montana, currently in med school at the University of Utah
Jasmine Osei-Enin, Undergraduate, McNair Scholar, UC Davis, currently a researcher in Grace Lee's lab
Brooke Peckenpaugh, Research Technician, UC Davis, currently a PhD student at Indiana U
Sophia Richter, High school researcher, U Montana, currently an undergraduate at Princeton
Federica Sartori, Undergraduate, UC Davis, currently a PhD student at NYU
Signe White, Research Technician, Indiana University, currently a PhD student at Emory U
Luna dog. RIP
You?
We value diverse ideas and experiences and would love for you to join our collaborative environment. Please contact me directly for information about current openings.
Brandon S. Cooper
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. HS 104
Missoula, MT 59812
brandon.cooper AT mso.umt.edu
We value diverse ideas and experiences and would love for you to join our collaborative environment. Please contact me directly for information about current openings.
Brandon S. Cooper
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. HS 104
Missoula, MT 59812
brandon.cooper AT mso.umt.edu