Selected Graduate Students
David McClellan
Dave completed his BS in Zoology at BYU and then his Master’s degree in August 1994 (“Segregation of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and microsatellite markers in backcross progeny of Peromyscus”). Dave then obtained his Ph.D. at Louisiana State University in 1999. His dissertation presented two novel mathematical models for detecting molecular selection, one at the gene level and one at the protein level. He did a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institute of Statistical Mathematics and Tokyo Institute of Technology through the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and then spent six years as an Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at BYU. Dave currently is a Senior Research Scientist for the Bigelow Laboratory for Oceanic Studies (www.bigelow.org/about/senior-research-scientists/dmcclellan.php). His interests include molecular adaptation and evolutionary bioinformatics. Some of his research has also focused specifically on the theoretical aspects of molecular evolution.
Malinda González
Mindy completed her Master’s degree in December 2005. Her thesis involved a molecular phylogenetic assessment among species of spiny pocket mice. The title of her thesis was “Phylogenetic relationships of forest spiny pocket mice (Genus Heteromys) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear markers with implications for species boundaries”. Her thesis was published in the Journal of Mammalogy in 2010.
Daniel K. Hardy
Dan finished his Master’s degree in 2007 after first working in the lab as an undergraduate for more than a year. His thesis consisted of two chapters. The first dealt with the “Phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of Reithrodontomys sumichrasti” and the second was entitled “Phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of the Peromyscus aztecus species group using three molecular markers with reference to a co-distributed species complex, Reithrodontomys sumichrasti”. Dan's chapter dealing with R. sumichrasti will be published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Dan currently is working on his D.D.S. at U.C. San Francisco. In this image, Dan is setting a Sherman live trap in a tree in Michoacan, Mexico in May 2006. We caught a R. microdon in this trap the next morning.
Elizabeth Arellano
Elizabeth completed both a Master’s and Ph.D. with me (1993-1999). Her thesis (“Allozymic relationships among six species of harvest mice (subgenus Aporodon) led her to continue investigating relationships among this New World rodent clade as part of her dissertation research, “Molecular phylogeny of the genus Reithrodontomys (Rodentia: Muridae). Elizabeth has been a researcher associated with the Centro de Educación Ambiental e Investigación Sierra De Huautla (CEAMISH) and the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, México since 1999. In this image, Eli is preparing museum voucher specimens near Berriozabal, Chiapas, Mexico in December 2009.
Francisco X. González-Cózatl
Francisco (Paco) began working with me in 1994 and complete his Ph.D. in 1999. His thesis title was “Molecular systematics of the genus Lepus in North America (Mammalia: Leporidae). Paco has been a research associated with the Centro de Educación Ambiental e Investigación Sierra De Huautla (CEAMISH) and the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, México since 1999. In this image, Paco is about to prepare a museum study skin of an opossum (Philander opossum) at the Los Tuxtlas Biological Station in Veracruz, Mexico in June 2008.
Melina C. Williamson
Melina finished her Master’s degree in 2009 after first working in the lab as an undergraduate for more than two years. Her thesis consisted of two chapters. The first dealt with the “Systematics of spiny pocket mice (genus Heteromys)” and the second was entitled “Systematics of the subfamily Heteromyinae based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers.
Quinn R. Shurtliff
Quinn did a Master’s with me from 2001 - 2003. His project was entitled “Mating system in the canyon mouse (Peromyscus crinitus) determined using microsatellite DNA markers” and was published in the Jouranl of Mammalogy. He completed his Ph.D. program under the direction of Marjorie Matcoq at Idaho State University in 2004 and finished in 2009. His dissertation research involved investigations of a contact zone between Neotoma lepida and N. macrodon in southern California (see image). Quinn is an Associate Conservation Scientist for the Wildlife Conservation Society and is the Sagebrush Steppe Program Coordinator in Idaho.
Richard E. Sherwin
Rick began working with me as an undergraduate and continued his work with bats as part of his Master's research. His thesis, which he completed in 1998, was entitled "Habitat and roosting affinities of Townsend's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii) in northern Utah." and is published in the Journal of Mammalogy. Rick completed his Ph.D. as the University of New Mexico under the direction of Scott Altenbach and currently is an Associate Professor at the Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Viriginia.