Current Lab Members
Sebrina Brooks (she/her)
PhD student
Fall 2025 -
BA UNC Wilmington 2024
Sebrina is interested in understanding how human pollutants affect the reproductive success and adaptive responses of organisms. In her undergraduate honor’s research, Sebrina evaluated the co-evolutionary relationship between the parasitic nematode genus Crassicauda and their marine mammal hosts, while contributing novel Crassicauda sequences to the literature. In addition to this work, she has used PCR techniques to track SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, investigated cetacean gastrointestinal microbiomes, did field observations/museum specimen preparations in Ornithology, and animal perfusions/dissections for brain tissue preservation. Sebrina also loves to bake, read, hike, and play tennis. She is excited to join the Safran Lab and address her future questions in the Barn Swallow system!
PhD student
Fall 2025 -
BA UNC Wilmington 2024
Sebrina is interested in understanding how human pollutants affect the reproductive success and adaptive responses of organisms. In her undergraduate honor’s research, Sebrina evaluated the co-evolutionary relationship between the parasitic nematode genus Crassicauda and their marine mammal hosts, while contributing novel Crassicauda sequences to the literature. In addition to this work, she has used PCR techniques to track SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, investigated cetacean gastrointestinal microbiomes, did field observations/museum specimen preparations in Ornithology, and animal perfusions/dissections for brain tissue preservation. Sebrina also loves to bake, read, hike, and play tennis. She is excited to join the Safran Lab and address her future questions in the Barn Swallow system!
Maddie Dang (She/They)
Undergraduate EBIO Department and Global Environmental Affairs
Maddie is a senior in EBIO at CU Boulder. They are particularly interested in evolution and how sexual selection in the wild is impacted by animal behavior. In her free time, Maddie loves to bake, sew, hike, and care for her plants.
Undergraduate EBIO Department and Global Environmental Affairs
Maddie is a senior in EBIO at CU Boulder. They are particularly interested in evolution and how sexual selection in the wild is impacted by animal behavior. In her free time, Maddie loves to bake, sew, hike, and care for her plants.
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.
Salomé Carrasco (she/her/any)
Postbac student
Salomé is a postbac student who completed their undergraduate degree (with honors) in Ecology and Evolution Biology in May 2025. Salomé joined the lab during Fall 2023. During the summer of 2023, she worked in the RECCS program, researching a subspecies of grasshopper endemic to the Boulder region and how elevational temperatures impact their growth and development. Salomé is interested in climate change impacts on the environment, fragmentation, pesticides, and bioacoustics. She also enjoys illustrating nature and baking. She joined the Safran Lab team on a sampling expedition across the Canadian Rockies during the summer 2024 and is completed an honor's thesis on the role of elevation and latitude on animal size using a large data collected across the entire breeding range of barn swallows.
Postbac student
Salomé is a postbac student who completed their undergraduate degree (with honors) in Ecology and Evolution Biology in May 2025. Salomé joined the lab during Fall 2023. During the summer of 2023, she worked in the RECCS program, researching a subspecies of grasshopper endemic to the Boulder region and how elevational temperatures impact their growth and development. Salomé is interested in climate change impacts on the environment, fragmentation, pesticides, and bioacoustics. She also enjoys illustrating nature and baking. She joined the Safran Lab team on a sampling expedition across the Canadian Rockies during the summer 2024 and is completed an honor's thesis on the role of elevation and latitude on animal size using a large data collected across the entire breeding range of barn swallows.
Sara Garcia (she/her, they/them)
PhD candidate
NSF Graduate Fellow
BS, double major in Biology and English
Wooster College, 2019
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 candidate
NSF Graduate Fellow
BS, double major in Biology and English
Wooster College, 2019
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!
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. 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. 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.
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.
