Graduate Students:

Wren Edwards

PhD candidate, Biological SciencesWren is a biological sciences student at Ohio University interested in how organisms respond to environmental change through time. Her research experiences include paleontological field work in eastern Africa, and extant great ape behavioral research in western Africa. Her present interests include the human – wildlife interface, particularly with regard to extant great ape populations.

Domoina Rakotoson

Domoina completed an MA in African Studies in 2009, entitled Advancing Democracy through Community Based Conservation in Africa. Returning as a graduate student in the MSES program, she is currently working as an environmental consultant for the EU, with graduate work exploring the human element as a determinant of the effectiveness of the management of Madagascar's protected areas.

Eileen Wyza

MS in Environmental studies, 2017
Phd student, Biological Sciences, currentEileen completed her MS in Environmental Studies at Ohio University studying Madagascar’s largest predator, the fosa. For her PhD she is continuing her work on carnivore biology, with a focus on coyote – domestic dog hybridization and its effects on behavior and ecology.
Published work

Undergraduate Students:

Suzy Aftabizadeh

Specimen-Based Research Technician, OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation FacilitySuzy began working in the Stevens lab as a high school volunteer and is now an Ohio University undergraduate pre-med major. She is interested in scientific research techniques and works as a research technician in the Stevens lab as both a digital and mechanical specimen preparator, with a particular focus on micro-CT datasets and morphological complexity analyses. Her goal is to acquire experience in laboratory research and hypothesis testing.

Ellie Klein

Specimen-Based Research Assistant, OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation FacilityEllie began working in the Stevens lab as a high school volunteer and is now an Ohio University undergraduate majoring in Engineering. She is interested in scientific research techniques and works in the Stevens lab as a specimen-based research assistant, serving as a microscopy image database expert. Her goal is to learn and acquire experience in research techniques and data management for complex interdisciplinary research projects.

Mackenzie Tyson

Specimen-Based Research Assistant, OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility and Database Research Assistant, OHIO Museum ComplexMackenzie began working in the Stevens lab as a freshman and is majoring in Wildlife and Conservation Biology and Photojournalism at Ohio University. She is interested in environmental change through time and human-wildlife interactions, and has gained summer internship experience in wildlife biology in topics related to care, enrichment, rehabilitation/release and conservation educational outreach. Her goal is to pursue a career in documenting and protecting biodiversity.

Affliliated Researchers:

Matthew Borths

Matthew is a research affiliate of the Stevens lab, and his work considers the evolution of meat-eating mammals. He is particularly interested hyaenodonts, an extinct group of carnivores that once topped the African food chain before they were replaced by the relatives of dogs, cats, and hyenas. As a laboratory coordinator and NSF Postdoc in the StevensLab, he focused on the transition from hyaenodont-dominated ecosystems to ecosystems featuring modern carnivores as the top predators. Matt is the co-creator of Past Time , a podcast, blog, and classroom outreach program that uses fossils to demonstrate the basic scientific principles that are foundational to spectacular discoveries. Matt now directs the Division of Fossil Primates at Duke University .

Karie Whitman

MS, Environmental Studies, 2017
MSES Thesis Title: Preparator and Collections Manager, OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility, 2013–2018
Karie is a research affiliate in the Stevens lab, interested in the dynamics of biodiversity conservation initiatives in relation to the communities that are involved in and affected by these initiatives. Her long term research explores the effectiveness of alternative livelihood strategies in alleviating deforestation pressures on the biodiverse and newly protected area of Maromizaha Forest, Madagascar. Prior to her enrollment as a Master’s student in the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, Karie was a student research assistant at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History, with additional experience in AmeriCorps. Karie was a student and collections manager in the Stevens lab before becoming a Fulbright Research Scholar in Madagascar.

StevensLab Alumni:

Brett Allerding

Undergraduate PACE student, 2014—2015

Kenneth Brunson

Undergraduate PACE student, 2009-10
Research topic: Kinematics of Locomotion in Nonhuman Primates
Proceeded to train at Ohio State University Veterinary School

Kelly Flanigan

MS in Environmental Studies, completed in 2019Thesis topic: Occupancy Analysis of Small Carnivores in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar

Eric Gorscak

Preparator, OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation FacilityEric worked as a preparatory at the OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility before completing his PhD in the Biological Sciences (O’Connor Lab). He pursued a post doctoral research fellowship at Field Museum of Natural History, and is now an Assistant Professor at Midwestern in Chicago.

Will Heffern

MSES in Environmental Studies, completed in 2021
Thesis topic: Relatedness Assessment and Analysis of Road Mortality Effects on Lynx rufus in Ohio

Jacob McCartney

Currently, Assistant Professor of Biology, State University of New York, GeneseoInstructor and Postdoctoral Researcher

Michael McTernan

MS in Environmental Studies, completed in 2019Thesis topic: Conservation Potential of a Semi-Forested Agricultural Landscape: Diversity and Spatial Distribution of Birds within a Large-Scale Ugandan Coffee Farm

Keegan Melstrom

Preparator and Collections Manager, OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facilitynow in graduate school at University of Utah

Daniel Mwania

MSc, Environmental Studies, 2016Thesis title: Distribution and Density of the Invasive Plant Species Prosopis juliflora in the Western Turkana Region of Northern Kenya

Emily Naylor

Currently, Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology Graduate Student at University of California, Riverside
Undergraduate PACE student, 2011–2012Senior Thesis, 2012–2013
Laboratory Technichian, 2013–2015

Rosa Negash

Preparator and Volunteer Coordinator, OU Preparator and Volunteer Coordinator, OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility
Rosa began working in the Stevens lab as a high school volunteer and joined Ohio University as an undergraduate majoring in Nutrition. She explored scientific research techniques and served as the lead preparator and volunteer coordinator at the OU Paleobiology Specimen Preparation Facility, conducting field research in the western interior of the USA, as well as in Tanzania and Uganda. After graduation, Rosa spent a year as an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Athens County Health Department. She is now in the Masters in Public Health program at OSU.
admissions story

Haley O'Brien

PhD Dissertation title: Evolutionary and Comparative Morphology; Cenozoic African Paleobiology
Haley O'Brien completed her PhD in the Stevens Lab in 2016. Her research explored thermoregulatory cranial vasculature and its influence upon large mammal evolution across the Cenozoic, using fossil and neontological data to inform macroevolutionary models. To read more about her research and publications, visit haleyobrien.net .

Shirley Odunze

Visiting Research TraineeThesis topic: Cenozoic African Paleobiology and the Sedimentary Geology of Nigeria

Jeremy Phan

MS in Environmental Studies, completed in 2012
Thesis topic: Strategies for Conservation of Critically-Endangered Primates in Vietnam
Received Outstanding MSES thesis Award in 2012
Published reseach
Jeremy is now Director of the Lao Conservation Trust for Wildlife.

Jessica Piurowski

Undergraduate PACE student, 2015–2016

Verne Simons

MS in Biological Sciences, completed in 2007Thesis title: Morphological Correlates of Locomotion in Anurans: Limb Length, Pelvic Anatomy and Contact Structure Morphology

Rebecca Smolenski

Undergraduate PACE student, 2010-2011

Will Stevens

Undergraduate UGRIP student, 2011—2012 Published research

Annalisa Weber

MS student, Environmental Studies, 2013–2015
Thesis Topic: Rule adherence during ecotourism encounters with Eastern Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP, Uganda
published research

Kenneth Wheeler

Undergraduate PACE student, 2012—2013