Lab members
Joanna L. Kelley, PhD, Principal Investigator
Joanna is currently a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of California Santa Cruz. She was previously in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University. Her research focuses on the genomic basis of adaptation, with a special emphasis on extreme environments. She is a member of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE).
She received her AB in Mathematics and Biology from Brown University. She received her PhD in Genome Sciences from University of Washington with advisor Willie Swanson and held postdoctoral positions at University of Chicago in Human Genetics and at Stanford University in the Department of Genetics.
email: jokelley-at-ucsc-dot-edu
Google scholar
profile at GenomeWeb
NSF Biosketch
Muh-Ching Yee, PhD, Lab Manager
Muh-ching (M.C.) has worked as a laboratory researcher at Stanford University in the departments of Genetics, Chemical and Systems Biology, Biology, and the Carnegie Institution for Science. M.C.’s childhood passion for solving the New York Times crossword has led to her current work playing with the letters of the genetic code in genomics and synthetic biology in human, animal and plant systems. M.C. received an SB in Chemistry at MIT, and a PhD in Chemistry at UC Berkeley, CA.
Blair Perry, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
Blair completed his PhD in Todd Castoe’s lab at the University of Texas at Arlington in April 2021. For his dissertation, he used functional genomics to understand the molecular basis and evolution of adaptations in non-traditional model systems. This included comparative transcriptomic studies of post-feeding regenerative organ growth in multiple snake species and functional genomic studies focused on understanding the regulation and evolution of snake venom systems. Broadly, Blair is interested in understanding how complex adaptations evolve through the integration of functional, population, and comparative genomics data. Blair started in the Kelley Lab as a NSF Office of Polar Programs Postdoctoral Research Fellow studying the genomic basis and evolution of Arctic adaptations in the polar bear. Blair continues to work on this project while also contributing to ongoing efforts to understand the genomic mechanisms of hibernation in brown bears.
Website: blairperry.net
Sam Bogan, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher
Office: Coastal Biology Building rm 158
Email: snbogan(at)ucsc.edu
Sam is an evolutionary biologist who integrates genomics and ecophysiology to study how genomes and environments interactively shape adaptation. Much of his research has focused on coastal and polar marine animals facing rapid global change. Sam received his PhD from UC Santa Barbara where he studied the evolution and regulation of plastic responses to global change in populations of marine invertebrates. As a postdoc in the Kelley Lab, Sam is leveraging long-read DNA and RNA sequencing to investigate the evolution of antifreeze protein genes in polar fishes. Specifically, he is evaluating how structural genomic variation has shaped the copy number, expression, and function of antifreeze proteins across environmental gradients.
Website: snbogan.github.io
Kara Ryan, PhD Graduate Student (started August 2020)
Kara graduated from Le Moyne College with a B.S in Biology in 2016. While at Le Moyne, Kara studied primary and secondary succession near retreated glaciers in Iceland. In 2020, she graduated from American University with a M.S in Biology. In Dr. David Carlini’s lab, she used a transcriptomic approach to study adaptation to shallow subterranean environments. During her time in the Kelley lab, Kara hopes to learn more about adaption to extreme and unusual environments. In addition to her research, Kara is working to increase science accessibility in the criminal justice system.
Tina Cai, PhD Graduate Student (started September 2023)
Tina graduated from Middlebury College with a BA in Conservation Biology in 2023. At Middlebury, Tina worked in the Evolutionary Ecosystem Ecology (E3) Lab under the guidance of Eric Moody. Tina has spent most of her undergraduate thinking about stoichiometric constraints in aquatic macroinvertebrates. Tina also completed an honors senior thesis studying the morphological changes associated with diel vertical migration patterns in lanternfishes using micro-CT scan. Tina is currently an NSF GRFP fellow in the Kelley lab and is interested in studying climate change (mal)adaptation in polar fishes. Tina is also always learning about environmental justice.
Lexi Enstrom, Masters Graduate Student (started October 2024)
Lexi graduated from Santa Clara University in 2021 with a BS in Bioengineering, where she focused on biomolecular engineering and designing micro needles for encapsulated cell extrusion. Afterwards, she worked at a biotech company based in San Francisco called GigaGen where she worked on developing recombinant polyclonal antibody therapeutics to fight infectious diseases and cancer. Her work also involved advancing a novel microfluidic single-cell droplet-based tool for characterizing recombinant polyclonal therapeutics through the application of protein and cellular engineering and bioinformatics. Lexi is currently a Bioinformatics Master’s student at UCSC in the Kelley Lab and is interested in investigating the transcriptional changes in brown bears during hibernation.
Anik Gearson, PhD Graduate Student (co-advised; started Spring 2025)
Anik graduated from McMaster University with a BS in Molecular Biology in 2020, where she conducted research on sea urchin larval development. She then completed a MS in Marine Biology at Northeastern University in 2022, studying adaptive protein synthesis in octopuses at Harvard University for her dissertation. Ank is currently a PhD student in Steven Haddock’s lab at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), co-advised by Joanna Kelley. She is studying deep-sea adaptation in ctenophores. Outside of research, Anik loves reading books, scientific illustration, and scuba diving.
Undergraduate Researchers
Emma Tashi, Undergraduate Researcher (Spring 2024 – Present)
Emma is an undergraduate majoring in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. After graduation, she plans on further pursuing her interests by obtaining a graduate degree in the field of biology.
Massimo Reyna, Undergraduate Researcher (Summer 2025 – Present)
Massimo is an undergraduate student studying marine biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is currently aiding research on eelpout and relatives’ populations relating to far past changes in climate and major deglaciation events. After graduating he plans on pursuing a higher degree in marine biology and exploring more of the ocean.
Lulu McClellan, Undergraduate Researcher (Summer 2025 – Present)
Lulu is an undergraduate majoring in Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics at UC Santa Cruz. She has previously contributed to pediatric cancer research, studying clinically relevant genetic variants in tumor samples using RNA sequencing data and bioinformatic approaches. Currently, Lulu is working to understand the genetic mechanisms underlying adaptation to temperate waters in polar fish. After graduating, she plans to pursue a graduate degree in the field of genomics.
Alumni
Postdoctoral Researchers
Carlos A. Garita-Alvarado
Position: Postdoctoral Researcher (2025)
Research focus: Selective pressures on fish diversification
We sadly acknowledge the passing of Carlos in March 2025.
Ellie Armstrong
Position: Postdoctoral Researcher (2021-2024)
Research focus: Population and conservation genomics of bears
Current position: Assistant professor at UC Riverside
Rishi De-Kayne
Position: Postdoctoral Researcher (2023-2024)
Research focus: Adaptation to extreme environments in Poeciliid fishes
Current position: Postdoctoral Researcher at UC Berkeley
Scott Hotaling
Position: Postdoctoral Researcher (2017-2022)
Research focus: Adaptation to cold and high-altitude environments
Current position: Assistant Professor at Utah State University
Luana Lins
Position: Postdoctoral Researcher (2016-2018)
Research focus: genome variation in Kryptolebias marmoratus
Current position: Post-doctoral scholar at CSIRO in Australia
Website: https://www.drluanalins.com/
Graduate Students
Tait Algayer
Position: Masters student (2021-2023)
Research focus: Genomics of seasonal run timing in salmon
Current position: Research Associate at the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research
Kerry McGowan
Position: PhD student (2017-2023)
Research focus: Functional genomics of hydrogen sulfide adaptation in Poeciliid fish
Current position: Data Scientist at A-Alpha Bio
Alexandra Fraik
Position: PhD student (2015-2021)
Research focus: Conservation genomics of Tasmanian devils and salmonids
Current position: Research biologist at the Rocky Mountain Research Station
Michael Saxton
Position: PhD student (2014-2021, co-advised with Dr. Charles Robbins)
Research focus: Genomic mechanisms of hibernation physiology in brown bears
Current position: Wildlife biologist at Katmai National Park
Anthony Brown
Position: PhD student (2014-2019)
Research focus: Genomics of hydrogen sulfide adaptation in Poeciliid fish
Current position: Bioinformatics programmer at UC Davis
Shawn Trojahn
Position: Masters student (Jan 2017 – Nov 2020)
Research focus: genetic causes of coloration variation in Rainbow Trout.
Alexia Gee
Position: Masters student (Aug 2019 – Dec 2020)
Research focus: Gene expression in hibernating bears.
Other Lab Members
Nathan Surendran
Position: Junior Specialist (March 2023 – Dec 2024)
Research focus: Assisting in bioinformatic tasks, instructing undergraduate students on the use of the hummingbird cluster
Current position: Pre health post baccalaureate program
Anne Nakamoto
Position: PhD rotation student (Fall 2023)
Research focus: Comparative transcriptomics of mammalian hibernation
Current position: PhD student in the Corbett-Detig Lab
Isabel Kline
Position: Lab Technician (2022-2024)
Marc Palmada Flores
Position: Visiting PhD Student (Spring 2023)
Research focus: Comparative genomics of vertebrates.
Xiaomeng Tian
Position: SMBE Virtual Lab Meeting Training Program participant, PhD Student at University of Konstanz (Fall 2022 – Spring 2023)
Research focus: Genomic mechanisms of phenotypic variation and adaptation.
Małgorzata Gazda (Gosia)
Position: SMBE Virtual Lab Meeting Training Program participant, Postdoctoral Researcher at Institut Pasteur (Fall 2022 – Spring 2023)
Research focus: Molecular evolution of menstruation.
Paul Wheeler
Position: Fish guru (Washington State University)
Corey Quackenbush
Position: Lab Manager (2013-2017)
Laura Helou
Position: Intern and Master’s Student in Montpellier, France (April 2017 – August 2017)
Research focus: Comparative genomics, impacts of structural variation on evolution.
Current position: PhD student in at the INRA of Tours, France.
Graduate Students / Visiting Scientists:
John Coffin, PhD student at KSU (Summer 2018)
Annabelle Vesterman, visiting veterinary student (Summer 2017)
Ryan Greenway, PhD student at KSU (Summer 2015)
Kyle Taylor, Non-thesis Master’s (Fall 2014-Fall 2015)
Luca Giordani, Volunteer (Spring 2014)
Undergraduates:
UCSC:
Itzel Pedraza (2024 – 2025)
Dalya Salih (2024 – 2025)
Owen Moosman (2024 – 2025)
Marcela Ceballos (2025)
Jeremy Davis (2024)
Alegria Jeremias-Lin (2024)
Bioinformatics bootcamp participants (2023):
Alhamzah Farouk
Annika Hagen
Brandon Ruano
Brian Pham
Cassia Ascencio
Darrian Barrera
Dominik Fett
Duc Nguyen
Ella Gustavson
Isabella Mccracken
Jacky Yam
Jeremy Davis
Joanna Strutt
Jorge Gamez
Justin Jang
Justine McOuat
Keaton Wood
Kirra McColl
Natalie Reyes
Ryan Pontius
Saif Suddozai
WSU:
Breeana Barnes, WSU Undergraduate (Spring 2015)
Julian Bennett Ponsford, WSU Undergraduate (2013-2015), Now graduate student at University of Wyoming with Cynthia Weinig
Connor Carrillo, School of Molecular Biosciences STARS student (Fall 2014)
Emma Cordray, WSU Undergraduate (2017)
Kayla Cribbin, WSU Undergraduate (2013-2016), Now studying with the Seattle Children’s Research Institute
Chris Cornelius, University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Undergraduate (Summer 2014)
Jarod Herrera, WSU Undergraduate (Spring 2018 – Fall 2018)
Samantha Kallinen, WSU Undergraduate (Spring 2017 – Spring 2018)
Nicholas Kelly, WSU Undergraduate (Summer 2018 – Fall 2018)
Allegra Sundstrom, WSU Undergraduate (Fall 2015 – Summer 2017)
Samantha Varrelman, WSU Undergraduate (2013-2014), Now a Registered Nurse at Mid-Valley Hospital
Bineeta Veach, WSU Undergraduate (2015-2016), Now a Manufacturing Associate at Infectious Disease Research Institute
Charlotte Walker, WSU Undergraduate (Fall 2017)
Courtney Jensen, WSU Undergraduate (2017-2019)
Anna McDonald, WSU Undergraduate (2019-2020)
Caitlyn Patel, WSU Undergraduate (2019-2020)
Maddi Bibby, WSU Undergraduate (2019-2020)
Lili Bahrami, WSU Undergraduate & Lab Technician (2019-2020)
Keegan Paras, WSU Undergraduate (2019-2020)
Kiersey Nielsen, WSU Undergraduate (2020)
Jake Landers, WSU Undergraduate (2019 – 2022)
Bridget McDonald, WSU Undergraduate (2021 – 2022)
Abigail Lehmann, WSU Undergraduate (2022 – 2024)