Presgraves Lab

		Daven Presgraves, PI Daven received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology from the University of Maryland at College Park and his (other) M.S. and Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Rochester. He was an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Munich and an NIH-NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University. Daven is now an Associate Professor at the University of Rochester. The Presgraves Lab, founded in summer 2005, works on evolutionary genetics using Drosophila species as models with funding from the NIH and the David & Lucile Packard Foundation.
		Sarah Kingan, Postdoc Sarah received her B.S. in Biology from Brown University and her Ph.D. in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University where she studied the evolution and population genetic history of a cryptic sex ratio distorter system in the Drosophila simulans clade species. She is now working on the history of the Segregation Distorter system in D. melanogaster and the complex speciation history between D. simulans and D. mauritiana.
		Amanda Larracuente, Postdoc Amanda received her B.S. in Biology from Canisius College in 2003 and her Ph.D. in Genetics from Cornell University in 2010, where she performed comparative analyses of the 12 Drosophila genomes, studied the factors affecting protein-coding sequence evolution, and investigated the genetics and evolution of the D. pseudoobscura neo-Y chromosome. Amanda is now studying how segregation distortion has shaped the evolution of spermatogenesis in D. melanogaster. Click here to view Amanda's web site.
		Shanwu Tang, Graduate Student Shanwu received his B.S. in Biology from Wuhan University and his M.S. degrees in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Rochester. He is now working on the molecular evolution and genetics of inviability in D. melanogaster-D. simulans hybrids caused by incompatibilities among protein components of the nuclear pore complex.
		Emily Landeen, Graduate Student Emily received her B.S. from the University of Arizona. She is now studying the regulation of the X chromosome in the Drosophila male germline, and she’s working to determine the molecular and evolutionary basis of the the special role played by the X in speciation between D. mauritiana and its sibling species.
		Cara Brand, Graduate Student Cara received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She then spent a year as research technician in Jerry Wilkinson’s lab, working on hybrid male sterility and meiotic drive in stalk-eyed flies. She is now studying the population genetics of interspecific introgression between Drosophila simulans clade species, and the evolution and genetics segregation distortion.
		Justin Roncaioli Justin is a Junior in the Undergraduate Program in Biology working towards his B.S in Molecular Genetics (with minors in Chemistry and Psychology). He is currently doing Independent Research in the lab on suppressors of the Segregation Distorter complex in D. melanogaster.
		Benjamin Metcalf, Laboratory Technician Ben received his B.S. in Biology from Le Moyne College and his M.S. in Biology from Syracuse University, where he worked with William T. Starmer on cactophilic Drosophila. After several years as a molecular biologist in industry, Ben returned to academic research on flies. He’s now working on the molecular genetic basis of hybrid incompatibilities.

		Former Lab Members
		Colin Meiklejohn, Postdoc CColin received his B.A. in Biology from the University of Chicago and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University where he studied the population genetics and transcriptional evolution of genes with male-biased expression in Drosophila. He was a NIH-NRSA postdoctoral researcher at Brown University where he worked on cytonuclear incompatibilities between closely related Drosophila species. He studies the evolution and regulation of the X chromosome in the male germline and the evolution of gene interactions affecting gene expression in Drosophila (funded by a NSF grant to CM). In 2012, Colin moved on to Indiana University.
		Victoria Cattani, Graduate Student Vicky received her Licenciatura in Ciencias Biológicas from the University of Buenos Aires and her M.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Rochester. She worked on the evolution and genetics of a lethal X-autosome hybrid incompatibility between D. mauritiana and its two sibling species, D. simulans and D. sechellia. She also studied the evolution of the genetic control of recombination rate differences between species of Drosophila. In 2012, Vicky completed her PhD and moved on to a postdoc doing evolutionary genomics in C. elegans in the Rockman lab at NYU.
		Pierre Gerard, Postdoc Pierre received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Genetics from the University of Paris VII and the University of Nancy, and his Ph.D. in forest genetics from ENGREF Paris. He worked on the genetics and evolution of embryonic lethality in D. simulans-D. melanogaster hybrids. Pierre is now a postdoc at the Université Paris-sud XI with Catherine Montchamp-Moreau.