Adrienne M.S. Correa, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, BioSciences@Rice
Fellow of the Kavli Frontiers in Science
@AdrienneSCorrea
Graduate students:
Clark Hamor -
Clark completed his Bachelor’s of Science in cell and molecular biology at the University of St. Thomas (Houston, TX). Prior to starting his PhD, Clark spent four years at Baylor College of Medicine in the labs of Marty Matzuk, Xiang Zhang and Jeff Rosen. During that time, Clark worked on projects that contributed to understanding uterine receptivity to embryo implantation and to finding new breast cancer therapies. Clark’s current work (co-advised with Dr. Jane Tao, BioSciences@Rice) uses molecular virology techniques to characterize viruses that may play roles in coral bleaching and stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD).
Email: cwh8@rice.edu
Carly E. Karrick - Google Scholar
Carly completed her Bachelors at the University of Kentucky in Dr. David Weisrock’s lab, where she investigated the ecological and evolutionary factors modulating lemur gut microbiome composition. In her Ph.D., Carly plans to examine the coral-algal symbiosis in the context of global change, with particular interest in the role of endosymbionts in promoting coral resilience to stress.
Email: cek6@rice.edu
Kara R. (Noonan) Titus - Google Scholar
Kara completed her Masters at Clemson University in Dr. Michael Childress’ Lab, where she investigated the influence of physical structure and coral reef health on reef fish diversity and behavior in the middle Florida Keys. In her Ph.D., Kara is investigating coral-predator interactions to better understand disease spread and other fundamental processes.
Email: krn4@rice.edu
Website: https://kararnoonan.weebly.com
Alex J. Veglia - Google Scholar
Alex completed his Masters at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez in Dr. Nikolaos Schizas’ Lab where he investigated cyanophage inhabiting coral reef invertebrates. In his Ph.D., Alex looks to expand his virus research efforts by investigating viral roles in coral health, functioning and evolution.
Email: ajv5@rice.edu
Website: www.alexjveglia.com
Taylor Walker -
Taylor Walker received her Master of Science in Marine Sciences from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). There, she studied how blue mussel and coquina clam abundance and physiological condition changed through time on the Virginia Barrier Islands. For her Ph.D., Taylor plans to research and model coral health and disease under future scenarios.
Email: Taylor.walker@rice.edu
Joyah Watkins -
Joyah completed her Masters at the University of Michigan in Dr. Melissa Duhaime’s Lab, where she studied the relationship between viral predation and microbial bioenergetics on algal-dominated reef systems. For her Ph.D., Joyah is exploring virus-host interactions and their role in coral disease.
Email: jw144@rice.edu
Undergraduate students:
Liliana Abramson
Ricardo Castellon
Talia Levy
Russell Ludwigsen
Shane Smith
Cyrus Washington - senior thesis student
October 2022:
March 2021:
April 2020:
November 2018:
October 2018, a good hair month:
April 2018:
December 2017:
Lab Alumni:
Antonia Brown, undergraduate researcher
Preeya Bhavsar, undergraduate researcher
Reb Bryant, senior thesis student, currently a Ph.D. student in Dr. Jim Bever’s lab at Kansas University
Cathy Cheng, senior thesis student
Kennedy Coleman, senior thesis student, now a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University’s Medical Sciences Ph.D. program.
Julie Cooper, Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) participant
Grace Cullinan, senior thesis student
Dennis Conetta, lab manager
Dr. Samantha R. Coy, Postdoctoral scholar, currently a postdoctoral scholar at Texas A&M University
Jennifer Drummond, Masters student
Dr. Carsten Grupstra, Ph.D. student in the Correa Lab, now a post-doctoral scholar in the labs of Dr. Sarah Davies at Boston University and Dr. Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, www.grupstra.com
Sara Emami, senior thesis student
Isabella Gutierrez, undergraduate researcher
Riley Hatch, lab technician
Dr. Lauren Howe-Kerr, senior thesis student, Ph.D. student in the Correa Lab, now a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation, https://laurenhowekerr.weebly.com
Julia Kim, undergraduate researcher
Anna Knochel, senior thesis student, recently completed her Masters degree in Dr. Michael Berumen’s lab at KAUST, now a Ph.D. student at Florida International University
Dr. Rebecca Maher, senior thesis student, recently defended her Ph.D. in Microbiology in Dr. Rebecca Vega Thurber’s lab at Oregon State University, now a post-doctoral scholar in Dr. Brendan Bohannan’s lab at the University of Oregon
Laura Mathews, undergraduate researcher
Jesse Passman, undergraduate researcher
Kristen Rabbitt, senior thesis student, currently a Ph.D. student in Dr. Randall Hughes lab at Northeastern University
Sydney Rodman, undergraduate researcher
Alex Rovner, undergraduate researcher
Kelsey Sanders, senior thesis student
Michael Saucedo, undergraduate researcher
Elaine Shen, senior thesis student, currently a Ph.D. student in Dr. Austin Humphries lab at the University of Rhode Island
Dr. Amanda N. Shore, Rice Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, currently an Assistant Professor at Farmingdale State College, www.amanda-shore.com
Jordan Sims, senior thesis student, currently a Ph.D. student in Dr. Jennifer Salerno’s lab at George Mason University
Jake Sperry, undergraduate researcher
Eddie Tang, undergraduate researcher
Jesse van der Meulen, undergraduate researcher
Sam Venker, undergraduate researcher
Brendan Wong, senior thesis student