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.

Google Scholar Page

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