Lab Members
Current lab staff
Dave Angelini
Dave in the field.
Dave is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at Colby College in Waterville, Maine and the principal investigator behind the Bugs in our Backyard project. He was an undergraduate student at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where he studied biology. He learned how to do research with Bob Paul and Donna Iannotti examining enzyme phosphorylation during hibernation in limpets and with Karen Crawford exploring regulatory proteins during regeneration in annelid worms. His doctoral work with Thom Kaufman at Indiana University described the patterning of appendages in a hemimetabolous insects, the milkweed bug. Dave then moved to the University of Connecticut for a postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Elizabeth Jockusch, where he examined appendage patterning in flour beetles.
The Angelini Lab now investigates issues of alternative outcomes in development and the interactions of genes and the environment.
Dave has taught a wide range of courses, including introductory biology, genetics, developmental biology, molecular biology, evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) and a senior seminar in integrative biology.
dave.angelini
colby.edu – @Aphanotus
Devin O’Brien
Devin is an NSF postdoctoral fellow studying the evolution and development of red shoulder soapberry bugs (Jadera haematoloma). Broadly speaking, Devin is interested in the evolution of “extreme” and “bizarre” morphology and its the costs and benefits to the organism. At Colby he has taught BI242 Comparative Biomechanics.
Current students in the lab
Pilar Fuentes ’22 – working with bugs and beetles
Ye Jin “Jane” Lee ’21 – working with bees and bugs
Carter Liou ’21 – working with bugs and GMM
Kirsten Miller ’21 – working with bugs and beetles
Trisha Mukerjee ’21 – working with bugs and CRISPR
Gaby Pranatio ’21 – working with bugs and beetles
Michael Yorsz ’22 – working with bugs and beetles
Mark Young ’21 – Well, actually, Mark is doing OCS in New Zealand
Former student in the lab
Derek Hernandez ’21 – Currently doing OCS at Bigelow Labs
Sophie Lee ’21 – Now working with Christina Cota
Thomas McMahon ’21 – Now working with Karena McKinney in Chemistry
Alexa Umaza ’21
Lab Alumni
Josefine Just ’19 – now traveling the world!
Mackenzie Scherr ’19
James Gonzalez ’18
Margot Miranda-Katz ’18
Jay Moore ’18
Danielle Smith ’18 – Now a PhD student in biochemistry at Johns Hopkins Medical School
Jane Swart ’18 – Now a PhD student in developmental biology at Duke University
Zhoufan Zhang ’18
Will Simmons ’17J – Now a PhD student in medical biochemistry at Johns Hopkins
Nathan H. Harris ’17
Stacey Hou ’17
Akira Murphy ’17
Ryota R. Nakada ’17
Lake Seymour ’17
Benjamin Wardwell ’17
Meghan Fawcett ’16 – Now a nursing student at Duke University
Chloe Geffken ’16
Karunya Nathan ’16
Mary C. Parks ’16 – Now Executive Director at The Green Crab R&D Project, and co-author of The Green Crab Cookbook.
Kay Shigemori ’16
Amy Cunningham ’15
Olivia W. Lang ’15
Matthew H. Wilson ’15
Alice Grubb Jones ’14
Daniel H. Kirby ’14
Emily Jamieson ’14
Laura Crowley ’13 – Now a PhD candidate in systems biology at Columbia University
Tyler Parrott ’13
Mara Laslo ’13, MS (American University) – Now a teaching fellow at Harvard University
Julie Syzygy ’12 (American University) – Now a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago
Michael Yarnell ’12 (American University) – Now a Professional Research Assistant at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Ariel Aspiras ’11 MS (American University) – Now a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University
Jenny Knauss ’11 (American University) – Now Associate Medical Director at BGB Group, following a PhD at Cornell Medical School
Stacey L. Baker ’10 MS (American University) – Now a researcher at NIH
Abigail LaBella ’10 (American University) – Now a postdoctoral Scholar at Vanderbilt University
Former lab staff
Joshua Steele, research technician
Maggie McKeon, research technician
Elizabeth Richards, research technician
Juan Camilo Vanegas, research technician