PhD student; cgoodchild@uco.edu

Chris graduated from Oklahoma University, then completed an MS at the University of New England and a PhD at Oklahoma State University. Chris’ research investigated the physiological effects of sublethal crude oil exposure in an avian model system to establish mechanistic links between subcellular indicators and ecologically relevant effects (e.g., whole-animal fitness, population-level endpoints). Chris was a postdoc in Kendra Sewall's lab at Virginia Tech and is now an Assistant Professor at University of Central Oklahoma.

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Visit Chris' website here

PhD student and Postdoc; ashley.love@uconn.edu

Ashley completed her undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech and her PhD at Oklahoma State University. Ashley's research focused on the importance of behavior in shaping individual and offspring immune responses. Ashley recently received an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to work with Dr. Sarah Knutie at UConn.

View Ashley's website here

MS student; wgperrin@uark.edu

Weston completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska. Weston's research investigated the importance of diet in shaping individual responses to disease (e.g., recovery time, disease severity). He used a laboratory canary-MG host-pathogen system. He is currently a visiting instructor at the University of Arkansas.

Honors Undergraduate Researcher

Savannah is pursuing her Honors thesis research project. She is analyzing tropical bird nest samples for possible antibacterial properties.  Savannah will be attending medical school after she graduates in Spring 2021.

Honors Undergraduate Researcher

Emma is a senior Biology major and Medical Humanities minor who has worked in the lab since Fall 2018. She is working on her Honors Thesis with Ashley Love investigating the relationship between maternal infection and antibody investment to offspring. Emma was awarded an Honors Research Grant and will defend her thesis in the spring of 2021.  Emma will begin medical school after her 2021 graduation.

Honors Undergraduate Researcher

Jahnavi began working in the lab as a Junior with Ashley Love to study immune-behavior trade-offs that offspring experience in response to maternal disease. She successfully defended her thesis Spring 2021 and recently earned a position with Dana Farber and Cedar Sinai Applied Genomics, Computational & Translational Core. She plans to pursue graduate school in the future.

Honors Undergraduate Researcher

Ashley is an Honor's student working on her thesis with Ashley Love. She is investigating the relationship between diet macronutrient content and its effect on disease outcomes.

Undergraduate Researcher

Wayne developed NestIQ, a program that uses machine learning to identify avian on- and off-bouts in thermal datasets collected from avian nests. You can download the program at  https://github.com/wxhawkins/NestIQ. His manuscript is currently in review. Wayne is now pursuing a graduate careeer at U Michigan.

Undergraduate Researcher

Angel is studied the effects of infection on social interactions, particularly how uninfected birds shift their behavior in response to uninfected individuals. Angel earned an Undergraduate Research grant to support her research and graduated in 2020.

Freshman Research Scholar

Audra was a Freshman Research Scholar in the lab. She investigated the effects of crude oil ingestion on courtship and pair bond maintenance behaviors in zebra finches.  Audra won Best Presentation at the Freshmen Research Scholar Symposium.

Wentz fellow and Freshman Research Scholar

Anna is a Physiology major who started working in the lab her first semester on campus. She's been involved with numerous projects, won a Best Presentation award at the Karen L Smith Undergraduate Research Symposia, presented at the Animal Behavior meeting in Toronto, Canada, and received a Wentz Research Scholarship.  Anna is currently exploring behavioral and immunological changes in social birds exposed to sick conspecifics. She's now in PT school.

Goldwater and Niblack Fellow

Jeff started working in the lab as a Freshmen. Jeff explored the bioenergetic consequences of exposure to crude oil using a bird model organism. Jeff has received several Best Presentation awards at local and national meetings. Jeff is also the recipient of the prestigious National Goldwater Fellowship and a Niblack Scholarship. Jeff is a grad student at Colorado St. University.

Undergraduate Researcher

Kevin has been a jack-of-all-trades in the lab and has worked with birds, snakes and snails. Kevin completed an independent research project investigating the behavioral effects of exposure to waste water treatment facility effluent in snails. Kevin was recently accepted into Veterinary School at Oklahoma State University. He will be sorely missed!

Undergraduate Researcher

Amy was with the lab for three years and became an expert at DNA extraction, analyzing behavioral videos, caring for birds, and performing lab assays. Aimee's primary focus is on the changes in the gut microbiome associated with shifts in macronutrient intake. 

Wentz Fellow

Lauren worked on her Honor's Thesis with Chris Goodchild investigating whether personality predicts behavioral and morphological responses to predators in snails.  Lauren was the recipient of a Wentz Research Grant!

Wentz Fellow

Tori was a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major working with Ashley Love to explore innate immune responses and hormonal changes in zebra finches exposed to sick neighbors. Tori was the recipient of a Wentz Research Grant