Graduate Students
Caleb Bryan PhD Candidate
Caleb Bryan is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas. He completed a BSc in Biology, focused on insect behavioral ecology, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Plant Sciences. His research, investigates the effects of stress on plants, insects, and their interactions. This project covers a wide variety of topics including how plant stress changes bumblebee foraging ecology, to the role of the microbiome in mediating heavy metal toxicity in native pollinators. Caleb is an active collaborator with teams at the Canadian Light Source and heavily invested in pursuing new techniques for investigating plant-insect ecology.
Teresa Aguiar Cordero Graduate Student
Teresa is from Mexico where she completed a Bachelor's Degree in Biology at the Autonomous Metropolitan University. She is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Plant Sciences. Her research is focused on developing tools for the management of Lygus bugs in fava bean. This project aims to address important issues in the biology and management of Lygus in faba.
Grace Onu-Odey Graduate Student
Grace's research is in applied entomology and plant virology. Her work focuses on viruses infecting pulse crops which are transmitted by pea aphids.
Tyler Hartl Graduate Student, Co-Advised with Dr. Tyler Wist, AAFC
Tyler is from Leduc, Alberta where he received his diploma in Crop Technology from Lakeland College in 2019. He went on to complete his B.Sc. in Agriculture, majoring in agronomy in 2022 at the University of Saskatchewan. He is now a M.Sc. student developing species distribution models to investigate which biotic and abiotic factors affect pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) migration. He is also researching how temperature affects the development and reproduction of pea aphids, while also seeing how Pea Seed borne Mosaic Virus develops under various temperatures in pea plants.
Sainey Ceesay Graduate Student
Sainey is from The Gambia, where he earned his Diploma in Education from The Gambia College in 2016. In 2022, he graduated with a BSc. in Agriculture from The University of The Gambia, School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. Presently, he is pursuing an MSc. in Plant Sciences, focusing his research on investigating the impact of phytoplasma infection and various host plants on the Aster leafhopper microbiome.
Jeremy Irvine Graduate Student
Jeremy is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan where he completed a B.Sc in Agriculture, majoring in agronomy. His NSERC-USRA as well as his 4th year thesis research focused on plant-vector-pathogen interactions. He is now a M.Sc. student working on economic entomology of the lesser clover leaf weevil (Hypera nigrirostris) and their impacts on red clover (Trifolium pratense) seed production in the Canadian Prairies.
Evan Quick Graduate Student
Evan earned his undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Saskatchewan and performed his undergraduate research in our lab. That work employed EPG to evaluate predator effects on aphid feeding. Evan then joined our lab to earn his MSc where he will be using eDNA to examine insect diversity associated with novel forage plants.
Georgiana Antochi-Crihan Graduate Student
Georgiana joined the lab from the University of Alberta where she both studied and worked. She is interested in many aspects of entomology. Her project investigates the biodiversity of ground-dwelling arthropods in natural and managed ecosystems.