Post Docs

Postdoctoral scholar in the Thrash lab. Working to determine the molecular underpinnings of slow growth rates in SAR11 bacteria.
E-mail: brittany.bennett@usc.edu

E-mail: helder@usc.edu

E-mail: awg@usc.edu

E-mail: shengwei@usc.edu

E-mail: cjames80@usc.edu

I am a microbiologist currently investigating community dynamics and metabolic versatility of protists in both marine and freshwater environment at Caron Lab. In my PhD, I studied photosynthetic algae from permanently ice-covered lakes in Antarctica and specifically focused on understanding their adaptation strategies as well as their ecological role in the microbe-dominant habitat.
E-mail: ishakalr@usc.edu

I am a biological oceanographer interested on plankton ecology and evolution (biased towards mixotrophs!). I am investigating thermal adaptation of phototrophs and mixotrophs by developing models and performing an experimental evolution study. Dual member of the Levine Lab (USC) and the Moeller Lab (UCSB).
E-mail: leles@usc.edu

Jayme Lewthwaite completed a PhD with Dr. Arne Mooers at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, where her research combined spatial ecology and phylogenetic information to help evaluate the biodiversity impacts of anthropogenic change on Canadian butterfly species. Her postdoc will expand on this work by constructing detailed modern and historical occupancy maps for each of these species in order to prioritize conservation actions. She is currently serving as a member of the Arthropod Species Subcommittee for COSEWIC (the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), and loves to chase insects in her spare time.
E-mail: jlewthwa@usc.edu

Ning’s Ph.D. work focused on QTL analysis of catfish performance traits including disease resistance, hypoxia tolerance and fast growth. Another major work during his PhD study is the analyses of walking catfish (Clarias batrachus) genome and transcriptome sequences to reveal the genetic basis of its adaptation to transition from water to land. After he graduated as a Ph.D., he first started a postdoc position at USC to utilize single-individual RNA-seq to examine the effects of mitochondria and mito-nuclear interactions on sex-specific aging in the copepod Tigriopus californicus. Then he switched to marine invertebrates (sea urchin and Pacific oyster) to investigate physiological basis of animals’ resilience to environmental stress. He is also obsessed with making oyster a model system to further study his current research interest – mito-nuclear interactions!
Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ning-Li-32
E-mail: ningli@usc.edu

E-mail: alie@usc.edu

E-mail: jmcnicho@usc.edu

I’m an outdoor enthusiast who stumbled into the wonderful field of oceanography where my broad research interests are to better understand and describe the roles microbes play in global biogeochemical (e.g., C, N) cycles. For my Ph.D. work, I was focused on investigating diazotrophs in coastal regions, specifically within macroalgal ecosystems. I joined the Fuhrman lab in July 2021 to contribute to ongoing research projects aimed at better understanding global microbial biogeography and identifying important traits (e.g., fundamental lifestyle, preferred nutrients, and oceanographic conditions) for a wide variety of marine microbes.
E-mail: yubinrau@usc.edu

I study the biodiversity of Radiolaria, a prominent group of marine protists. My current goal is to integrate genetic, morphologic, and ecologic information on radiolarians to improve our knowledge of how their diversity is expressed in ocean environments.
E-mail: trubovit@usc.edu

Website: https://jlw-ecoevo.github.io/
E-mail: jakeweis@usc.edu

E-mail: yichuny@usc.edu