Our lab group is an awesome and energetic mix of investigators at all levels of education and experience! Check us out (listed below in alphabetical order).
Quinn Adams(he/him)
NSF REU fellow, Summer 2023 -
My name is Quinn and I joined the Safran lab in the summer of 2023. I am currently an undergrad at CU Boulder studying EBIO and ENVS. Some of my academic interests include adaptive behavior, ecological community resilience, and how biological processes can inform solutions to modern day problems. After graduating in the Spring of 2024, I plan on hiking the PCT, working on farms across the country to see first hand how regenerative principles are being used in agriculture, and enrolling in graduate school. Outside of my studies, I enjoy climbing, running, exploring in nature, making things with my hands, and taking pictures.
NSF REU fellow, Summer 2023 -
My name is Quinn and I joined the Safran lab in the summer of 2023. I am currently an undergrad at CU Boulder studying EBIO and ENVS. Some of my academic interests include adaptive behavior, ecological community resilience, and how biological processes can inform solutions to modern day problems. After graduating in the Spring of 2024, I plan on hiking the PCT, working on farms across the country to see first hand how regenerative principles are being used in agriculture, and enrolling in graduate school. Outside of my studies, I enjoy climbing, running, exploring in nature, making things with my hands, and taking pictures.
Dr. Gina Calabrese (she/her)
BS University of Texas, Austin 2010
MS University of Texas, Austin 2014
PhD UNC - Chapel Hill 2022
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
Sept 2022 –
Gina is interested in the evolution of behavior and how behavioral traits contribute to adaptation and speciation. This line of inquiry has led her to work on a variety of topics including sensory ecology, reinforcement, and how mating signals are responding to climate change. Her PhD in Karin Pfennig’s lab at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill focused on the evolution of male signals and female preferences among populations of Mexican Spadefoot Toads subject to varying environments and levels of reinforcement and introgression. In the Safran lab she will be investigating how migration behavior contributes to speciation, including broad phylogenetic patterns and the genomic signatures of divergence across migratory divides in Barn Swallows. We are very excited to collaborate with Kira Delmore (TAMU) and Jochen Wolf (LMU Munich) on this work.
Gina also has have extensive experience and professional development in evidence-based and inclusive teaching in Biology. While taking a break from classroom teaching during her postdoc, Gina is currently seeking undergraduate collaborators for the migration projects, so please get in touch if you are interested in migration, comparative phylogenetics, and/or field work with Barn Swallows! On a personal note, Gina loves birding and observing wildlife; dogs, hiking, gardening, and Texas. You can read more about her work at her website.
BS University of Texas, Austin 2010
MS University of Texas, Austin 2014
PhD UNC - Chapel Hill 2022
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
Sept 2022 –
Gina is interested in the evolution of behavior and how behavioral traits contribute to adaptation and speciation. This line of inquiry has led her to work on a variety of topics including sensory ecology, reinforcement, and how mating signals are responding to climate change. Her PhD in Karin Pfennig’s lab at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill focused on the evolution of male signals and female preferences among populations of Mexican Spadefoot Toads subject to varying environments and levels of reinforcement and introgression. In the Safran lab she will be investigating how migration behavior contributes to speciation, including broad phylogenetic patterns and the genomic signatures of divergence across migratory divides in Barn Swallows. We are very excited to collaborate with Kira Delmore (TAMU) and Jochen Wolf (LMU Munich) on this work.
Gina also has have extensive experience and professional development in evidence-based and inclusive teaching in Biology. While taking a break from classroom teaching during her postdoc, Gina is currently seeking undergraduate collaborators for the migration projects, so please get in touch if you are interested in migration, comparative phylogenetics, and/or field work with Barn Swallows! On a personal note, Gina loves birding and observing wildlife; dogs, hiking, gardening, and Texas. You can read more about her work at her website.
Natalie Cloutier-Chaine (she/her)
Undergraduate, BSI Scholar
Spring 2022 -
Natalie is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in French at CU boulder. She is interested in animal behavior, conservation biology, and animal cognition. As a BSI continuing scholar, she is working on a behavioral project examining the role of vocal communication during incubation in barn swallows.
Undergraduate, BSI Scholar
Spring 2022 -
Natalie is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in French at CU boulder. She is interested in animal behavior, conservation biology, and animal cognition. As a BSI continuing scholar, she is working on a behavioral project examining the role of vocal communication during incubation in barn swallows.
Heather Kenny-Duddela (she/her)
PhD candidate
NSF Graduate Fellow
Fall 2020 -
BS UC Davis 2014
MS William & Mary 2020
Heather is interested in understanding the importance of behavioral variation in different ecological contexts, and in exploring how individual variation in behavioral traits scale up to influence group, population, and community level processes. She is fascinated by questions such as "how do individual behavioral phenotypes mediate species interactions?" and "how can environmental conditions shape behavioral diversity within populations?". In her master's research, Heather measured aggression and neophobia (hesitancy to approach an unfamiliar object) of eastern bluebirds and investigated how these traits influenced bluebird responses to human-caused noise pollution. She is excited to join the Safran Lab and explore similar questions in the barn swallow system. Check out her video about behavioral diversity in wildlife populations!
PhD candidate
NSF Graduate Fellow
Fall 2020 -
BS UC Davis 2014
MS William & Mary 2020
Heather is interested in understanding the importance of behavioral variation in different ecological contexts, and in exploring how individual variation in behavioral traits scale up to influence group, population, and community level processes. She is fascinated by questions such as "how do individual behavioral phenotypes mediate species interactions?" and "how can environmental conditions shape behavioral diversity within populations?". In her master's research, Heather measured aggression and neophobia (hesitancy to approach an unfamiliar object) of eastern bluebirds and investigated how these traits influenced bluebird responses to human-caused noise pollution. She is excited to join the Safran Lab and explore similar questions in the barn swallow system. Check out her video about behavioral diversity in wildlife populations!
Dr. Javan Carter (he/him)
NSF INTERN Fellow 2020
Fall 2017 - Spring 2022
BS Old Dominion University, 2016
Javan completed his Ph.D candidate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department with a focus in evolutionary genomics. Javan's research focused on reconstructing phylogenetic hypotheses for the genus Hirundo and for the subspecies complex, Hirundo rustica, using genomics data sets. Javan loves working with undergraduate students in the lab and in the classroom and is a star mentor, teacher, and baker! Currently, Dr. Carter is a Bioinformatic Scientist at RTI International and the proud father of twins!
NSF INTERN Fellow 2020
Fall 2017 - Spring 2022
BS Old Dominion University, 2016
Javan completed his Ph.D candidate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department with a focus in evolutionary genomics. Javan's research focused on reconstructing phylogenetic hypotheses for the genus Hirundo and for the subspecies complex, Hirundo rustica, using genomics data sets. Javan loves working with undergraduate students in the lab and in the classroom and is a star mentor, teacher, and baker! Currently, Dr. Carter is a Bioinformatic Scientist at RTI International and the proud father of twins!
Avani Fachon (she/her)
Undergrad honor's thesis student, EBIO and media design
NSF postbac fellow
Fall 2020 - Fall 2022
Inside the Greenhouse intern, Fall 2022 - Fall 2023
Avani is a senior at CU Boulder working towards a major in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and a minor in Media Production. She is interested in animal behavior, conservation ecology, and science communication. Currently, she is working on an Honors Thesis in the Safran Lab. Through scientific research, storytelling, and media-related projects, she hopes to contribute to environmental and social change in her local and global community
Undergrad honor's thesis student, EBIO and media design
NSF postbac fellow
Fall 2020 - Fall 2022
Inside the Greenhouse intern, Fall 2022 - Fall 2023
Avani is a senior at CU Boulder working towards a major in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and a minor in Media Production. She is interested in animal behavior, conservation ecology, and science communication. Currently, she is working on an Honors Thesis in the Safran Lab. Through scientific research, storytelling, and media-related projects, she hopes to contribute to environmental and social change in her local and global community
Sara Garcia (she/her, they/them)
PhD student, Fall 2021 -
BS, double major in Biology and English
Wooster College, 2019
NSF Graduate Fellow
Sara joined the lab in Fall 2021. As an undergraduate student, she majored in both Biology and English. Her senior project was an art-science integration of the visual ecology of grasshoppers as well as satiric writing about lab culture. Sara spent the past two years as an AmeriCorps volunteer and academic coach for STEM and English high school students in Chicago. She loves baking, reading, and writing!
PhD student, Fall 2021 -
BS, double major in Biology and English
Wooster College, 2019
NSF Graduate Fellow
Sara joined the lab in Fall 2021. As an undergraduate student, she majored in both Biology and English. Her senior project was an art-science integration of the visual ecology of grasshoppers as well as satiric writing about lab culture. Sara spent the past two years as an AmeriCorps volunteer and academic coach for STEM and English high school students in Chicago. She loves baking, reading, and writing!
Gwen Harker (she/her)
undergrad, BSI student Fall 2022 -
Gwen is a Junior majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with minors in Geology and Spanish. As a current BSI scholar, she is interested in nest selection within Barn Swallow colonies and variation in micro-habitat. She loves birds and is especially interested in conservation, animal behavior, and impacts of climate change on natural systems.
undergrad, BSI student Fall 2022 -
Gwen is a Junior majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with minors in Geology and Spanish. As a current BSI scholar, she is interested in nest selection within Barn Swallow colonies and variation in micro-habitat. She loves birds and is especially interested in conservation, animal behavior, and impacts of climate change on natural systems.
Graydon Hidalgo (they/them)
PhD student, Fall 2023 -
Graydon Hidalgo is starting in the Fall of 2023 as a Ph.D. student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the Safran Lab. They are a graduate of the University of Montana with a B.Sc. in Wildlife Biology and a Geographic Information Systems certificate. Their research interests include evolutionary genomics, bioacoustics, landscape ecology, avian disease, and conservation cartography. In 2022, Graydon moved to the Big Island of Hawai'i to work as an Avian Disease Associate with the Research Corporation of Hawai'i monitoring the prevalence of avian malaria in the native forest birds. Graydon is eager apply their skills in geospatial analysis to questions relating to barn swallow divergence, and hybrid zones.
PhD student, Fall 2023 -
Graydon Hidalgo is starting in the Fall of 2023 as a Ph.D. student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the Safran Lab. They are a graduate of the University of Montana with a B.Sc. in Wildlife Biology and a Geographic Information Systems certificate. Their research interests include evolutionary genomics, bioacoustics, landscape ecology, avian disease, and conservation cartography. In 2022, Graydon moved to the Big Island of Hawai'i to work as an Avian Disease Associate with the Research Corporation of Hawai'i monitoring the prevalence of avian malaria in the native forest birds. Graydon is eager apply their skills in geospatial analysis to questions relating to barn swallow divergence, and hybrid zones.
Bridger Houston (he/him)
NSF REU student summer 2023
Bridger joined our lab in the spring of 2023, just after his graduation from CU Boulder with a BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology! He is interested in environmental ecology, particularly the impacts of human activity on ecological interactions within rural areas. Bridger is currently working as a field assistant for the 2023 season, collecting biological and behavioral data. He hopes to continue field work as his professional career develops!
NSF REU student summer 2023
Bridger joined our lab in the spring of 2023, just after his graduation from CU Boulder with a BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology! He is interested in environmental ecology, particularly the impacts of human activity on ecological interactions within rural areas. Bridger is currently working as a field assistant for the 2023 season, collecting biological and behavioral data. He hopes to continue field work as his professional career develops!
Dr. Zach Laubach (he/him)
NSF PRFB Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019 -
PhD Michigan State University 2019
My work is grounded in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology. In particular, I seek to understand the ways in which early life environments shape phenotype. I am drawn to research questions that explore the interrelations among social behaviors, molecular mechanisms, and stress physiology. This has led me to use tools from diverse fields, including molecular biology and physiology to identify proximate mechanisms of animal behaviors and phenotypes; and causal inference methods from epidemiology to better understand relationships gleaned from observational data. I have carried out my research in wild birds and hyenas, and humans.
NSF PRFB Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019 -
PhD Michigan State University 2019
My work is grounded in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology. In particular, I seek to understand the ways in which early life environments shape phenotype. I am drawn to research questions that explore the interrelations among social behaviors, molecular mechanisms, and stress physiology. This has led me to use tools from diverse fields, including molecular biology and physiology to identify proximate mechanisms of animal behaviors and phenotypes; and causal inference methods from epidemiology to better understand relationships gleaned from observational data. I have carried out my research in wild birds and hyenas, and humans.
Dr. Molly McDermott (she/her)
ITG Fellow
National Geographic Young Explorer
PhD Fall 2017 - Spring 2022
Data Scientist, Side x Side May 2022 - 2023
BA Evergreen College 2012
MS Univ Alaska 2017
Molly is interested in ecological influences on mating behavior and the formation of new species. As a PhD student in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology she studied interactions between migration and sexual selection. Field data are collected from Barn Swallow subspecies that differ in sexually selected traits and migratory behavior. Molly’s master’s research focused on the impacts of climate-driven vegetation change on arctic songbird nestling diet. As an amateur musician, she’s interested in intersections between science and art, and in communicating scientific information via creative disciplines. Molly is currently a data scientist for the Side x Side project, part of Inside the Greenhouse.
Read more about Molly here
Isabelle Meredith (she/her)
Undergraduate, Independent Study, UROP scholar, EBIO honor's student
Fall 2021 -
Isabelle is a double major in EBIO and Computer Science. She is working on a database design to help organize and curate the lab's long term data! After being a part of the field team during summer 2022 as a UROP scholar, Isabelle is pursued an honor's thesis in the lab which she successfully defended in April, 2023. Isabelle graduated with a double major in EBIO (summa cum laude) and Computer Science in May 2023 and is currently working with our group as a research assistant as she completes our long term database project!
Grace Murdoch (she/her)
undergraduate, BSI student, summer 2023 -
Grace is an Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major who joined the lab in the Summer 2023 field season. As a BSI scholar, her project focuses on how pair bond strength may impact the time it takes for barn swallow pairs to relay a new clutch after an initial clutch loss.
undergraduate, BSI student, summer 2023 -
Grace is an Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major who joined the lab in the Summer 2023 field season. As a BSI scholar, her project focuses on how pair bond strength may impact the time it takes for barn swallow pairs to relay a new clutch after an initial clutch loss.
Aleea Pardue (she/her)
Undergraduate, BSI scholar
Spring 2021- Spring 2023
Aleea is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in Art Practices at CU Boulder. She is interested in population genetics, animal behavior, habitat conservation, and speciation. She hopes to use her degree to integrate the practices of art making and ecological research to facilitate communication between scientists and the public, ultimately encouraging a broad appreciation for wildlife conservation. Aleea graduated in May 2023 and is currently a research technician in Nolan Kane's lab in EBIO at CU!
Dr. Rebecca Safran (she/her)
Professor
BS University of Michigan 1991
MS Humboldt State University 1997
PhD Cornell University 2005
The role of adaptation in shaping phenotypic variation within and among closely related populations is a central theme in my research program. As an evolutionary ecologist, I am interested in the biological causes and consequences of variation in phenotype using molecular, comparative, and experimental methods. By adopting new comparative approaches (both empirical and synthetic), my current work is focused on determining how trait function affects patterns of gene flow. We are currently establishing new methods to test hypotheses about the relative contributions of geographic distance, history, natural and sexual selection in the evolution of reproductive isolation.
My research group takes advantage of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica species complex, a highly tractable, widespread and diverse study system. By conducting experiments and long-term studies both locally and across the breeding range of this young and monophyletic species complex, we aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of the evolution and maintenance of phenotypic variation from proximate (mechanistic) and functional (evolutionary) perspectives and how these affect patterns of gene flow and the evolution of reproductive isolation.
In all of our research endeavors, my research group integrates behavioral, physiological and genetic perspectives. As such, my lab is set up to conduct a variety of molecular, physiological, and endocrinological assays, and we also possess various tools for objectively measuring phenotypic variation. Presently, we conduct all of our empirical research on wild populations in the field, where experimental and comparative work are complemented by several molecular investigations in the lab.
Read more about our current research throughout this website and by taking a look here and also here.
MS Humboldt State University 1997
PhD Cornell University 2005
The role of adaptation in shaping phenotypic variation within and among closely related populations is a central theme in my research program. As an evolutionary ecologist, I am interested in the biological causes and consequences of variation in phenotype using molecular, comparative, and experimental methods. By adopting new comparative approaches (both empirical and synthetic), my current work is focused on determining how trait function affects patterns of gene flow. We are currently establishing new methods to test hypotheses about the relative contributions of geographic distance, history, natural and sexual selection in the evolution of reproductive isolation.
My research group takes advantage of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica species complex, a highly tractable, widespread and diverse study system. By conducting experiments and long-term studies both locally and across the breeding range of this young and monophyletic species complex, we aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of the evolution and maintenance of phenotypic variation from proximate (mechanistic) and functional (evolutionary) perspectives and how these affect patterns of gene flow and the evolution of reproductive isolation.
In all of our research endeavors, my research group integrates behavioral, physiological and genetic perspectives. As such, my lab is set up to conduct a variety of molecular, physiological, and endocrinological assays, and we also possess various tools for objectively measuring phenotypic variation. Presently, we conduct all of our empirical research on wild populations in the field, where experimental and comparative work are complemented by several molecular investigations in the lab.
Read more about our current research throughout this website and by taking a look here and also here.
Dr. Drew Schield (he/him)
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow.
Feb 2020 -
Drew is interested in the genomics of adaptation and speciation, and especially how evolutionary processes like recombination, gene flow, and selection shape diversity across the genomes of natural populations. He earned his Ph.D. in Todd Castoe’s lab at the University of Texas at Arlington, studying snake genomics and population genetics. His dissertation work focused on population structure and gene flow within the Western Rattlesnake species complex (Crotalus viridis + oreganus and relatives) and other related species (e.g., C. atrox and C. scutulatus). He continued work as a postdoc in the Castoe Lab for two years, working on questions related to genome structure and function in reptiles, snake sex chromosome evolution, and meiotic recombination in snakes.
In the Safran Lab, Drew will study the genomic architecture of speciation in barn swallows. His work will focus on the genomic landscape of divergence and how it relates to mate choice trait variation throughout the genus Hirundo. He is interested in using this framework to test the ‘genomic coupling’ hypothesis, which predicts that non-random associations between genomic regions underlying mate choice trait variation will accumulate over time, reducing gene flow and promoting reproductive isolation.
Read more about Drew here
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Antonia Schüerg (she/her)
Fulbright Fellow Fall 2022 - Spring 2023 Toni is a Fulbright Scholar this year from Germany. Her graduate studies in Heidelberg are focused on molecular biology and neuroscience. She wanted to come to CU Boulder to work with the Safran and McAdam Labs to study sexual selection in two different model organisms. She will work on a comparative project with Andrew and Becca on the role of territorial behaviour and extrapair mating in male reproductive success. Additionally, during her stay she hopes to learn much about the work in EBIO! |
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