Lab members
Chris Oakley - PI
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology and the Purdue Center for Plant Biology at Purdue University. I recieved my BS in Botany from the University of Washington, and my MS and PhD degrees in Biological Science at Florida State University, followed by a postodoctoral position in the Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University. I am broadly interested in plant ecological and evolutionary genetics.
Postdocs, graduate students, and technicians
Tatyana Soto, MS student 2020-2022
- currently Biology Lab Manager and part-time Lecturer at Mills College
Gonjin Lee, Postdoc 2020-2022
- currently Postdoc at the University of Florida
Brian Sanderson, Postdoc 2018-2019
- currently Associate Computational Scientist at The Jackson Laboratory
Kattia Palacio-Lopez, Postdoc 2017-2018
- currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston, Downtown
Josh Kraft, Technician 2018, Graduate Student 2018-2019
- currently a PhD candidate at Purdue
Inam Jameel, Technician 2017-2018
- currently a PhD candidate at the University of Georgia
Undergraduates
Audrey Courtier, Summer REU student with the Purdue PURE-PD program 2023
Nick Ryan, Undergraduate researcher and assistant 2021-2023
- currently working at Corteva
Madelyn Lopp, Undergraduate researcher and assistant 2022-2023
- currently in the Peace Corps
Annie Klemsz, Assistant 2022
Pavithra Chidambaram, Assistant 2021-2022
Rachel Toppo, Assistant 2021-2022
Christina Gallick, Undergraduate Honor's Thesis in Biology and assistant 2019-2021
- currently working at the US EPA
Isabel Turner, Undergraduate research credit (BTNY498) and assistant 2019-2021
- currently a MS student Miami University
Alex Wassgren, Assistant 2019-2021
- currently a MS student at Purdue
Madilyn Schaider, Undergraduate research credit (BTNY498), 2021
- currently a PhD student at Purdue
Jo Will, Assistant 2021
Azolla Ralston, Assistant 2019-2020
Jacob French, Assistant 2018-2020
Saira Ahmed, Assistant 2018-2019
Parker Caldwell, Assistant 2018-2019
Rebecca Deater, Assistant 2017-2019
Hsiu-An Chou, Assistant 2017-2018
Caylie Leclercq, Assistant 2017-2018
Alex Dowden, Undergraduate research credit (BTNY498), 2017
Brandon Garver, Assistant 2017
Lab Alumni
Juan Diego Rojas Gutierrez -
PhD student
Juan Diego recieved his BS in Biology from Universidad Icesi in Colombia. He is working on the genetic basis of heterosis and heterosis by environment interactions.
September 2017 - K. Palacio-Lopez, R. Deater, C. Oakley, C. Leclercq, A. Dowden, I. Jameel
Joanna Miller -
Undergraduate researcher and assistant
Joanna is working on a BS in Animal Sciences (pre-vet). Joanna joined the lab in Fall 2022.
March 2019 (Partial lab photo) - C. Gallick, J. Kraft, C. Oakley, B. Sanderson, R. Deater, I. Turner, and J. French. Photo by Tom Campbell, Purdue Agriculture Communications
Stephen Mills -
Undergraduate researcher and assistant
Stephen is working on a BS in Horticulture (Landscape Design). He joined the lab in Fall 2022, and is researching the costs of cold acclimation in Plantago and Conyza. He was awarded a Purdue College of Agriculture Martin Research Scholarship for this project for AY 2023/2024.
Jo Brigham - Undergraduate assistant
Jo is working on a BS in Plant Science in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. Jo joined the lab in Fall 2023
Covid era partial lab photo - C. Gallick, G. Lee, C. Oakley, J. D. Rojas_Gutierrez, M Schaider, T. Soto, I. Turner, and A. Wassgren.
Sam Mantel - Postdoc
Sam received a BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, and a PhD in Genetics from the University of Georgia. He broadly interested in ecological adaptation and its differential effects on closely related plant populations/species.
Mac Johnson - Technician
Mac recieved his BS in Biochemistry and a BA in Latin from the University of Virginia.
Lane Bell - Undergraduate assistant
Lane is working on a BS in Plant Science in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. Lane joined the lab in Fall 2023