Lab Inhabitants
Erica Young
I am a West Aussie plant-algal-microbial ecophysiologist, in exile in the USA since 2002! I grew up surrounded by ‘the bush’ outside Perth, and developed a love of the natural world, especially plants. I studied plant biology at University of Western Australia, completing a first class Honors degree in 1988 in Plant Biochemistry. I did a ‘pre-doc’ at Uppsala Universitet, Sweden, working on nitrogen fixation in cyanobacteria, then returned to Australia for PhD studies at Monash University in Melbourne in microalgal physiology. My post-doc on charismatic macrophycophytes took me to Queens University and Portaferry Marine Lab in Northern Ireland. I started a faculty position at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2002. My research has focused on Lake Michigan and smaller freshwater ecosystems, revolving around nutrient cycling in algal and bacterial communities. Currently, my lab is focused on microbial community functions in carnivorous pitcher plants, and silicon cycling in Lake Michigan. link to CV
Other Inhabitants
Emmanuel Divinagracia – graduate student – Sarracenia purpurea pitcher plant communities: oxygen depletion in pitchers and effects on communities.
Temitope Temenu – graduate student – Si cycling in Lake Michigan, algal and cyanobacterial uptake and use of silicate
Kaitlyn Rhyner – graduate technician – nectar composition of Sarracenia purpurea and effects on microbial communities. Heading to MCW in fall 2024 to start a PhD in neurobiology!
Former inhabitants now doing other stuff…
Andrew Fuchs – Post-doctoral researcher 2020 – 2022. Stable isotope ratio and compound-specific mass spectrometry analysis of pitcher plant food webs. Now at PPD
Jacob Grothjan – PhD 2021 – Pitcher plant communities – composition and functional ecology. Jake is now a Visiting Assistant Professor at Augustana College.
Nathaniel Thorngate-Rein – PhD – sediment bacterial communities and PAH breakdown. Now a water treatment manager at Milwaukee Water Works.
Allison Driskill – MS 2022 – Silicate use by algae and cycling in nearshore Lake Michigan. Now in ecological restoration and a water treatment manager for Milwaukee Water Works.
Loretha Jack – undergraduate student researcher and technician – Silicate use by freshwater diatoms and macrophytes, PDMPO staining. Now a Water Resources Biologist with WI Dept Natural Resources.
Alicia Hanson – MS 2019 – ecology of freshwater viruses. Researcher at UWM, Concordia University. Now working in education.
Lindsay Reed – MS 2021 – algal-bacterial collaboration in microbial fuel cells, algal mixotrophy.
Chang-Jae Choi – PhD – toxin detection using algal chl a fluorescence, flow cytometry. Postdoctoral research at Univ Texas Austin.
Philip Lee – MS – benthic bacterial diversity related to Dreissenid mussels and filamentous algal blooms in Lake Michigan. Now at University of Alabama.
Jason Berg – MS Invasive buckthorn ecology in Cedarburg Bog. Now at University of Maryland.
Jason Mills – postdoctoral associate – wetland ecology and invasive species. Now teaching and involved in sustainability at UW Oshkosh.
Chelsea Lowes – grad student – use of P forms by phytoplankton (defended July 2009!). Now at NOAA
Terry Bott – grad student – pitcher plant ecology (defended Aug 2007!) – now teaching at UWM and MATC
Lori Pansch – research technician (2006 – 2007) – APA regulation – now at WI DNR
Undergrad research students since 2020
Kaitlyn Rhyner -2022-24 – pitcher plant host nectar effects on microbiome. Kaitlyn is starting a PhD in neurobiology at MCW in fall 2024.
Amanda Holzer – 2023-24 – effects of nectar on pitcher plant communities using stable isotope tracers in greenhouse experiments. Amanda graduated in May 2024 and is now at City of Milwaukee.
Christian Stiyer – 2023-24 – root N uptake and elemental composition of pitcher plant tissue in field and greenhouse experiments.
Kirandeep Kaur – 2023 – pitcher plant continental P content analysis.
David Deshpande – 2021-2022 – metabolic fingerprinting of pitcher plant microbial communities during succession. David is now at Univ Chicago Medical School.
Joan Kaiser – 2021 – physiological profiling of pitcher plant communities. Joan is now a water technology technician at AO Smith.