Recent defenses
Below is a list of students and their defense titles. For information about our alumni from previous years, please go to the graduate alumni directory under our Alumni & Friends section.

Spring 2008
Andrea Walther
Advisor: Professor Diarmaid Ó Foighil
"A systematic study of North American freshwater limpets (Gastropoda: Hygrophila: Ancylidae)."

Spring 2008
Ben-Yang Liao
Advisor: Jianzhi (George) Zhang
"Expression evolution of mammalian genes"

Winter 2008
Jim Crants
Advisor: Beverly Rathcke
"Pollination and pollen limitation in mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum L.), a deceit-pollinated spring ephemeral"

Wendy Grus
Advisor: Jianzhi (George) Zhang
"Evolution of the vomeronasal system viewed through specific genes."

Javier Ruiz
Advisor: John Vandermeer
"Plant dispersal, seedling recruitment and insect herbivory: evidence from the Dipteryx oleifera system"

Luis Fernando Chaves
Advisors: Mercedes Pascual and Mark Wilson
"Ecological dynamics of vector-borne diseases in changing environments"

Fall 2007
Ondrej Podlaha
Advisor: Jianzhi (George) Zhang
“Evolution of genes involved in mammalian reproduction and sex determination”

Corinne L. Richards
Advisors: Professors L. Lacey Knowles and Ronald A. Nussbaum
“Ecological and evolutionary implications for the conservation of Panamanian golden frogs”

Summer 2007
Heather Lerner
Advisor: Professor David Mindell
“Molecular phylogenetics of diurnal birds of prey in the avian Accipitridae family”

Xiaoxia Wang
Advisor: Professor Jianzhi (George) Zhang
“Molecular evolution in primates”

Winter 2007

Mike Fraker
Advisor: Professor Earl Werner
"Predation risk perception and the anti-predator behavioral dynamics of larval anurans"

Krista McGuire
Advisor: Professor John Vandermeer
"Ectomycorrhizal associations function to maintain tropical monodominance: Studies from Guyana,"

Ron Oldfield

Advisor: Professor Emeritus Jerry Smith
“The effects of behavioral interaction on sex determination in the Midas cichlid”

Xionglei He

Advisor: Professor Jianzhi (George) Zhang

“Genomic studies on gene duplication”

Fall 2006

Mary Anne Evans

Advisor: Professor George Kling

"Phytoplankton ecology in the arctic lakes"

Spring/Summer 2006
Prosanta Chakrabarty
Advisor: Professor Bill Fink
"Phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses of Greater Antillean and Middle American Cichlidae"

Heok Hee Ng

Advisor: Professor Bill Fink

"Only Skin Deep: Phylogeny and evolution of epidermal characters in the Sisoridae"

Winter 2006
No defenses

Fall 2005
Tanya Dewey
Advisor: Professor Phil Myers
"Evolutionary history in North American Myotis: Cryptic variation and conservative morphologies"

Glenn Fox
Advisor: Professor Arnold Kluge
"Total evidence and the evolution of Ophidia (Reptilia: Squamata)"

Spring/Summer 2005
Laura Eidietis
Advisor:  Professor Paul Webb
“A Biomechanical Description of the Anuran Tadpole Startle Response and Implications of Anatomical Diversity”

Steven Albee-Scott
Advisor: Professor Ronald Nussbaum
"The Phylogeny and Phylogeography of the Two False-Truffles, Leucophleps spinispora and Hymenogaster sublilacinus, in the Great Basin, USA"

Kate Teeter
Advisor: Professor Priscilla Tucker
"Patterns of Gene Flow in the House Mouse Hybrid Zone: Comparisons among Loci and between Transects"

Katia Koelle
Advisor: Professor Mercedes Pascual
"Host Immunity and Climate Forcing in Cholera Dynamics and Evolution"