Meet the I.D.E.R Lab Group

Graduate Students

Anupama Chandrasekhar

Ph.D. Candidate (joined 2022)

Anupama earned her Bachelor and Master of Technology degrees in Biotechnology from Amity University, India. She received the title of silver medalist for excellence in academics at her graduation. She is an artist and loves painting and sketching portraits. Anupama loves exploring new places around the world and likes to spend time enjoying nature. She has joined the IDER lab to study phylogeography, biogeography, macroevolution and phylogenetics. Currently, her research focuses on the molecular evolution and diversification dynamics of the galliform family Cracidae.

Jimmy Haugh

Ph.D. Student (joined 2025)

Jimmy earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology: Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation from Central Michigan University where he did research on shell shape variation and sexual dimorphism in critically imperiled native freshwater mussels. He enjoys listening to records and playing the saxophone (along with Guitar Hero). He also enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and generally being in nature. He joined the IDER lab to learn more about biogeography, immunogenetics, and developing broader conservation techniques. His research focuses on immunogenomic and environmental correlates of disease in Pacific newts (genus Taricha).

Isaac Brown

Ph.D. Student (joined 2026)

Isaac earned his Bachelor of Science in Geology from Texas A&M University, where he participated in a research project studying the ecology of extant and extinct mammalian carnivores based on their dental morphology. He enjoys watching movies, creative writing, and visiting zoos and museums. Isaac joined the IDER lab to gain experience in applying macroevolutionary analyses to morphological data in waterfowl, which will support his research on functional trait variation across the vertebrate tree of life.

Yvonne Love Cariño

Ph.D. Candidate - Co-advised by Dr. Manuela Dal Forno (joined 2023)

Yvonne graduated with a Bachelor and Master of Science in Biology from Central Mindanao University, Philippines, where she focused on the taxonomy and morphology of lower vascular plants (lycophytes and ferns), contributing to the discovery of several new species and new records. Currently, she is working on the documentation and systematics of the lichens from the Southern Philippines. She joined the IDER lab to learn and expand her knowledge on biogeography, molecular systematics, trait evolution, and phylogenetics.

Chethana Adikari

Ph.D. Student (joined 2025)

Chethana earned her Bachelor of Science in Zoology (Honors) from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, where she researched the taxonomic status of the threatened shrub frog Pseudophilautus puranappu to support amphibian conservation. She loves dancing and spending time outdoors. She joined the IDER lab to investigate waterfowl genomics. Her research will integrate behavioral, genetic, and ecological data to investigate how various evolutionary mechanisms contribute to patterns of immunogenetic variation at micro- and macroevolutionary scales.

Undergraduate and Post-Bacc Researchers

Alena Blankenbaker

Rey Turner

Undergrad Researcher and McNair Scholar (Joined 2024). For her McNair Scholars project, Alena has been working on understanding the evolutionary dynamics of migratory behavior in waterfowl. She has also contributed substantially to data collection for our work on primate MHC and sexual selection.

Undergrad Research (2025-2026). Rey contributed to multiple projects in the lab and made the greatest contribution to data collection for primate MHC and sexual selection. Often getting excellent quality DNA from some of our more challenging samples!

Lab Alumni

Once a lab member, always a lab member.

Ray Chatterji, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Researcher (2022-2025)

During his tenure in the lab, Dr. Chatterji led our research on waterfowl macroevolution. He completed studies on their molecular systematics, fossil record, and trait evolution. Leveraging geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative methods, he found multiple interesting diversification patterns related to convergence, integration, and evolutionary constraint. You can read his research here: https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syag020 and https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.05.29.656821

Shanté Williams

Post-Bacc Researcher (2024-2025)

During her tenure in the lab, Shanté collaborated with Dr. Chatterji on a study of the geometric morphometrics of multiple extinct waterfowl. She contributed significantly to a publication that revealed inclusion of fossil specimens expanded the known morphospace of waterfowl species, suggesting that extinct species likely occupied niches no longer represented among extant species. You can read  her work here:  https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.05.29.656821

Our Collaborators

These are lab groups and individuals we frequently collaborate with.

Jessica W. Lynch

Associate Professor, UCLA

Helen James

Chair of Vertebrate Zoology, NMNH

Tracy A. Heath

Associate Professor, ISU

Gary Bucciarelli

Director, UC Davis Natural Reserves