Althoff Lab

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- David M. Althoff, Ph.D.
- Associate Professor, Department of Biology
440 Life Sciences Complex
dmalthof@syr.edu 315-443-1096My key research interests are evolutionary ecology of species interactions; insect community ecology, molecular ecology, and phylogenetics. View Faculty Profile
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Current Lab Members
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- Dr. Shengpei Wang
- PhD Student
429 Life Sciences Complex
swang74@syr.edu 315-443-9368Shengpei studied environmental science and management at the University of California--Davis for her undergraduate degree. She is broadly interested in the ecology and evolution of plant-insect interactions and the role of phenotypic plasticity in these interactions. She finished her Ph.D. in Aug 2020 and is currently a postdoc in the lab studying mutualism dynamics in synthetic yeast communities.
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- Karma Thomas
- Ph.D. student
429 Life Sciences Complex
kthoma06@syr.edu Karma received her B.S. from Weber State University in Biology and joined the lab in Aug of 2020. She is interested in the ecology and evolution of insects and their interactions with plants.
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- Thomas Johnson
429 Life Sciences Complex
tjohns13@syr.edu Thomas is interested in insect evolution and species interactions. They earned their B.S. in Biology and B.A. in German Studies from the University of Kansas. Thomas joined the lab in Aug 2020.
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- Gwen Bode
- Ph.D. Student
429 Life Sciences Complex
gmbode@syr.edu Gwen is interested in how plant chemistry, especially floral scent, influences plant-insect interactions
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- Diego Luna
- Undergraduate Researcher
429 Life Sciences Complex
diluna@syr.edu Diego is a Biotech student studying the how yucca plants defend against their moth herbivores.
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Lab Alumni

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- Alison Agresta
- Undergrad researcher, 2012-2013
Alison graduated from Syracuse University in 2013 with a degree in biology, focusing on environmental science and minoring in geography. Her interests in our lab were aquatic systems and water quality, and she completed a study on the effects of water quality on Daphnia life history. Alison is now working for The Nature Conservancy in Rochester, NY.
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- Annika Moe
- Postdoc, 2011-2102
Annika received a Ph.D. from U of Minn. for her work on fig & fig wasp speciation. She is interested in species interactions and their role in promoting speciation as well as evolution education. As a postdoc in the lab, she studied local adaptation in aphids and their parasitoids. Annika is now at the University of Minnesota as an Education Specialist.
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- K. Alice Wood Fox
- Lab Technician II, 2012-2105
K. Alice served as Lab Technician II to the Althoff and Segraves Laboratories as from 2012-2015, working primarily on molecular and morphological analysis of east coast populations of Prodoxus decipiens. She is now working with Doug Frank, Jason, Fridley, and Katie Beckilin at SU.
K. Alice Wood (Bulkeley) Fox
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- Clive Darwell
- Postdoc, 2013-2015
Clive is interested in how biodiversity is structured within ecosystems and what patterns and processes can be identified to describe and explain it, and more specifically, in how intimate ecological interactions in conjunction with the evolutionary and biogeographical histories of species determine the composition, structure and function of biodiversity. He is also interested in how these relationships are maintained or modified according to both environmental factors (e.g., climate change) and additional biotic pressures (e.g., in the face of competition, predation, or parasitism). Before moving on to yucca-moths, Clive used the fig-wasp microcosm as a study system during his PhD. He is currently working as independent researcher in Thailand.
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- Alexandra Chapman
- Undergrad researcher, 2014-2016
aechapma@syr.edu Lexie characterized the bacterial gut communities of yucca moths for her Honor's Thesis. She is currently attending SUNY Upstate Medical.
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- Haley Plasman
- M.S., 2013-2016
hjplasma@syr.edu Haley studied potential host-associated differentiation in the pea aphid parasitoid, Aphidius ervi. This wasp is used as a biocontrol agent throughout the U.S. Haley tested whether host race formation in pea aphids scales up to host-race formation in parasitoids. Haley is now teaching freshman high school Biology in Austin, TX.
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- Heather Murin
- Undergraduate Researcher, 2018-2019
hmmurin@syr.edu Heather was a Biochemistry major and has examined yucca moth larval feeding, ovipositor morphology, and yucca floral morphology. She spear-headed our outreach workshop for 7th and 8th graders on plant-insect coevolution.
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