Current Lab Members

Kelley Kroft

Technician

Kelley Kroft graduated with a BA in Biology from Long Island University. While there, she conducted research comparing parasite diversity and prevalence in invasive and native crab populations. She also assisted with projects on chytrid infection and overwintering ecology of Spotted Frogs. Kelley developed an interest in blood parasites while working in the Perkins lab, where she has been studying apicomplexan parasites, particularly Plasmodium, in lizards and birds through the examination of blood smears and genetic analyses. She is interested in continuing to study parasites that are transmitted by vectors, especially the adaptations of parasites to their vectors and hosts, and the factors that affect vector transmission. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her dogs and traveling to tropical locales. 

Former Lab Members

Janus Borner
Janus was a postdoc in the Perkins lab from 2018-2019 and is currently a Research Fellow at the Institute for Evolutionary Ecology
and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University.
Spencer Galen
Spencer was a Ph.D. student from 2014-2018. He is currently an NSF Collections postdoctoral fellow at Drexel University, Academy of Natural Science.
Liliana Dávalos
Liliana M. Dávalos is Professor of Conservation Biology at Stony Brook University’s Department of Ecology and Evolution. Her research interests include molecular evolution, phylogenetics and tropical biology. She leads the Tropical Biology group, which studies extinction and survival in deep time, functional genetics in non-model mammals, and deforestation.
Eric Waltari
Eric is a PhD. biologist with broad expertise in genomics, evolutionary ecology, and host/pathogen research. His current focus is antibody discovery, particularly studying the adaptive immune repertoire, using a combination of lab and informatics techniques.
His previous positions have all involved gathering and processing genomic or spatial biogeographic datasets, and creating Unix-based and R-based pipelines to analyze these datasets.
Kelly Speer
Kelly was a Ph.D. student in the Richard Gilder Graduate School from 2015-2019. She will be starting as a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithosonian National Museum of Natural History in January 2020.
Alexis Brown
Lexi was a Master's student at Columbia University who worked on bat flies and the evolution of parasite specificity. She is currently a Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University.
Juliane Schaer
Juliane collaborated with Susan throughout her Masters and Ph.D. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Humboldt University
Renato Nunes
As an NSF REU Intern in the Perkins lab, I worked with Spencer Galen to explore the systematics of the avian malaria genus Leucocytozoon. We used novel nuclear markers, and coalescent methods to uncover the presence of cryptic diversity within the genus. He is currently a Ph.D. student in David Lohman's lab at City College - CUNY Grad Center.
Bryan Falk
Bryan was a Ph.D. student in the Richard Gilder Graduate School from 2008-2012. He currently is an invasive species biologist at Everglades National Park.
Allison Kerwin
Allison was a technician from 2005-2008. She is currently an assistant professor at McDaniel College.
Jennifer Wisecaver
Jennifer was an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates student researcher in 2005. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at Purdue University.
Greg Baillie
Greg was a postdoc from 2005-2007 and worked on St. Louis encephalitis virus genomics.
Kevin Olival
Kevin was a postdoctoral fellow in the Perkins lab. He is currently Vice President for Research at EcoHealth Alliance.
Diana Belanger
Diana was a Ph.D. student in the CUNY program. Her research was on the population genetics of canine heartworm in wild and domestic hosts. She is currently an assistant professor of science at Quincy College.
Antoinette Piaggio
Toni was a Ph.D student at the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduated in 2004. She is a Research Molecular Biologist at USDA-APHIS.
Miguel Pinto
Miguel was a PhD student at the CUNY Grad Center.
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