Trip Newton
Undergraduate Student
Trip majored as a Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences major. While at Purdue, Trip helped with PFAS research with amphibians.
Anna Bushong
M.S. Student
Anna received her B.S. in Biology and Environmental Studies from Centre College in Danville, KY in 2021. Her master’s thesis research focused on elucidating the effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on lipid metabolism using the amphibian model Xenopus laevis (African Clawed Frog).
Abby Valachovic
Wildlife Ecology and Research Lab Manager
Abby manages and facilitates the building and labs at the new Wildlife Ecology Research Facility (WERF) out at Purdue Wildlife Area. Abby received her B.S. in Biology from Union College in Schenectady, NY in 2020 and her M.S. in biology from Miami University of Ohio in May 2022. Abby’s master’s thesis research focused on understanding the role a nuclear receptor pathway (PPAR) on fat accumulation and mobilization in the migratory Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis).
Matthew Hamilton
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Lab Manager
Matt managed the Aquatic Sciences labs on campus in the Forestry Building from 2019-2023. Matt obtained his first B.S. in 2008, Organizational Leadership & Supervision, Purdue University, IN and then received a B.S., 2012, Wildlife Science, Purdue University, IN, and received a M.S., 2016, Wildlife and Forest Resources, University of Georgia, GA.
Elizabeth (Lizz) Allmon
Graduate Student and Post Doc
Lizz completed her B.S. in Biology and Ecological Sciences at Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV in 2012 and her M.S. in Marine Science at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas, TX in 2015. She earned her PhD in Aquatic Toxicology as a member of the Sepulveda Lab at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN in 2021. Her research includes fish physiology, ecotoxicology, responses to contaminants and abiotic stressors, transcriptomics, acid-base physiology, cardiac development, and immune responses in fish. For her post-doc, Lizz was involved in project with Florida pompano project with the USDA and Florida Atlantic University where she assessed salinity tolerances and the effects of salinity on the immune response in juvenile pompano.
Meredith Scherer
M.S. Student
Meredith earned a M.S. in the lab examining the toxicokinetic of PFAS in Xenopus laevis. She succesfully defended in May 2023. She is currently A Fellow at U.S. EPA’s Computational Toxicology Lab. Meredith received her B.S. in Biology from Purdue University.
Sini Macheri Researcher
Sini obtained her DVM from Kerala Agricultural University, India in 2008, and a MS in Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology from Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, India in 2012. Sini worked with PFAS with fish and amphibians.
Connor Melman Neill
Laboratory Manager
Mel obtained a B.S. in Ecology, Evolution & Behavior with a Minor in Marine Biology. Mel worked in the lab for a year. He helped manage the lab and run experiments. He is now working in his PhD at The University of Texas, Austin Marine Science Institute.
Grace Coogan
Laboratory Manager
Grace obtained a B.S. in. Grace worked in the lab for two years. She helped manage the lab and run experiments with fish and amphibians.
Maggie Wigren
Graduate Student
Maggie obtained her B.S. in Biological Sciences, at Purdue University. She joined the lab as a M.S. student and worked on the influence of oil on fish microbiomes.
Evelyn Barragan
Graduate Student
Evelyn obtained her B.A. in Environmental Sustainability from Earlham College, Richmond, IN. She joined the lab as a M.S. student and worked on the influence of the chytrid fungi Bd and PFAS exposure on gray tree frogs.
Wes Flynn
Post-doctoral Researcher
Wes obtained his B.S. in Biology at Penn State and his Ph.D in Ecology at University of Georgia. Wes worked on several PFAS projects, mostly centered on amphibian toxicity research.
Zhiquan Liu
International Visiting Scholar
Zhiquan obtained his B.S. from Jinggangshan University, China, and his M.S. and Ph.D from East China Normal University. Zhiquan worked on Daphnia as a model organism for nanotoxicity studies.
Rui Zhang
Rui was a PhD student visiting scholar from ShanDong University, China. Rui worked on the effects of nanoplastics on zebrafish (2018-2020).
Michael Lachetta
B.S., 2012, Biology and Ecological Sciences, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV.
M.S., 2015, Marine Science, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Michael worked between 2017-2019 maintaining amphibians at the Purdue Wildlife Area and assisted in research on the ecotoxicity of perfluorinated chemicals in toads, frogs and salamanders.
Gary Hoover
D.V.M., 2011-2015, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
PhD., 2018, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Gary worked on the effects of PFAS on amphibians.
Michael Chislock
B.S., 2008, Biology, Clarion University, Clarion, PA
M.S., 2011, Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
Ph.D., 2016, Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
Michael was a Post-doc and worked on the sublethal effects of perfluorinated compounds on amphibians. He also conducted research on eco-evolutionary interactions and effects of elevated nutrient loads on food webs.
Jen Serafin
B.S., 2013, Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
M.S., 2018, Ecotoxicology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Jen worked evaluating the effects of multiple stressors on Fundulus grandis larvae using transcriptomic approaches.
Amy Godfrey
B.S., 2013, Biology,Butler University, Indianapolis, IN
Ph.D., 2018, Ecotoxicology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Amy was a PhD PULSe Life Science Interdisciplinary student and an IGERT Fellow working on evaluating the toxicity of new generation of flame retardants in zebrafish.
Sam Guffey
B.S., 2011, Marine and Atmosphere Science, University of Miami, FL
M.S., 2013, Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada
Sam worked as the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences lab manager from 2013 to 2018. We still miss you Sam!
Jiejun Gao
2009, B.S. Chemistry- China Agriculture University.
2012, M.S. Plan Protection (Pesticide)- China Agriculture University
Ph.D., 2016, Ecotoxicology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Jiejun worked on the mechanisms of toxicity of silver nanoparticles using zebrafish.
Ahmed Mohamed El-Mehrezy Abdel-Moneim Mohamed
D.V.M., 2007, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
M.S., 2011, European Master in Applied Ecology (EMAE), University of Poitiers, France
Ph.D., 2016, Ecotoxicology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Ahmed worked on the development of molecular markers of intersex on fish.
Janelle Cronin
B.S., 2015, Environmental Sciences, Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, KS
Janelle studied the effects of crude oil in Fundulus embryos.
Dr. Cecon Mahapatra
M.S., Banaras Hindu University, India and Asia Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand
PhD, CIFA, Utkal University, India
Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Cecon worked on several projects studying the mechanisms of toxicity of different types of pollutants (heavy metals, nanoparticles and endocrine disrupting chemicals).
David Coulter
B.S., 2007, Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD
M.S., 2010, Biology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI
Ph.D., 2015, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Dave studied thermal impacts on different fish species in relation to power plants on the Ohio River.
Shuai Chen
B.S., 2008, Pharmaceutical Engineering, Hainan University, China
M.S., 2011, Aquaculture Genetics and Breeding, Hainan University, China
Ph.D., 2015, Ecotoxicology and Bioinformatics, Purdue University, west Lafayette, IN
Shuai worked on the function of miRNA’s in Daphnia pulex.
Dominique Turney
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Major, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Dominique worked under the supervision of Jennifer Serafin evaluating the effects of oil on the development of Fundulus grandis.
Lexis Butler
B.S., 2012, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Lexis worked on a project with fathead minnows caged downstream from a sewage waste water treatment plant in Muncie, IN.
Jennifer Meyer
M.S., 2005, Entomology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Jennifer was in charge of all of the Fisheries labs.
Jon Moore
B.S., 2013, Wildlife Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Jon worked on a project examining the behavioral effects of sea lampricides on sturgeon and trout.
Chris Middaugh
B.S., 2009, Biology, Lyon College, Batesville, AR
M.S., 2011, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Chris worked on a Great Lakes Fishery Commission grant studying the effects of the TFM sea lampricide on lake sturgeon and rainbow trout. He is now a fisheries biologist working for the state of Florida in Pensacola.
Aaron Zull
B.S., 2013, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Aaron worked on the effects of triclocarban on Daphnia magna. He obtained the first place under the category of Agriculture at Purdue’s 2012 Undergraduate Research Symposium!
Suman Maity
B.S., 2004, Zoology, Astosh College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, Indiah
M.S., 2006, Zoology, Ballygunge Science College, Universitty of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
Ph.D., 2011, Ecotoxicology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Suman worked on metabolomics to evaluate the impact of different environmental stressors on the amphipod Diporeia.
Jessica Leet
B.S., 2006, Environmental Studies, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
M.S., 2008, Environmental Science, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN
Ph.D., 2013, Toxicology, Purdue, West Lafayette, IN
Jessica studied the impact of hormones released from CAFO activities on fish communities and fish sex differentiation. She currently has a position as a Post-doc at the University of Carolina.
Paulina Moraga
B.S., 2005, Marine Biology, Universidad de Valparaiso, Chile
Paulina helped with anything and everything around the labs! She also finished a project examining the endoparasites of the Eastern box turtle.
Matthew Sttensberg
B.S., 2009, Biology, Ripon College, Ripon, WI
PhD, 2013, Ecotoxicology, Purdue, West Lafayette, IN
Matt worked with Daphnia magna developing real-time sensing tools for the development of non-invasive methods for examining responses to different stressors.
Greg Weber
B.S., 2007, Biology, Carroll University, Waukesha, WI
Ph.D, 2013, Toxicology, Purdue, West Lafayette, IN
Greg studyied the trasngenerational effects of atrazine in zebrafish. He currently has a position as a Post-doc at the University of Wisconsin.
Jake Bledsoe
B.S., 2012, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Jake worked on a Great Lakes Fishery Commission grant studying the effects of the TFM sea lampricide on lake sturgeon and rainbow trout.
Azadeh Hatef
B.S., 2002, Natural Resources Sciences Engineering – Fisheries Sciences, University of Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
M.S., 2006, Fishery (Fish Culture and Breeding), Tehran University, Tehran, Iranh
Ph.D., 2008, Zootechniques – Fishery, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Vodnany, Czech Republic
Azi was a PhD student at the South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic. She came to our lab for 4 months and worked with Japanese medaka evaluating changes in genes important in sex differentiation after exposure to different natural and synthetic hormones.
Jenny Zenobio
B.S., 2007, Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, Lima, Peru
M.S., 2014, Exotoxicology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Jenny worked with two species of chubs (creek and Colorado) examining gene changes from free-ranging fish collected from different sites, including downstream from a sewage waste water treatment plant.
Chris Klinkhamer
B.S., 2012, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
M.S., 2014, Ecotoxicology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Chris worked on a project examining the effect of multiple stressors on Fundulus grandis.
Eugene Gao
B.S., 2008, Aquaria Science and Technology, College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agriculture University, China
M.S., 2011, Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan, China
Ph.D., 2014, College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
Eugene was a PhD exchange student from the College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agriculture University, China, He studied the toxicity of perfluorinated compounds using zebrafish.
Samantha Thiede
B.S.., 2014, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Sam worked as an undergraduate researcher in the lab.
Takako Hasebe
Takako was a PhD student from Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya, Japan. Takako was developing a transgenic Japanese medaka line for the detection of estrogenic chemicals.