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Lab Members at Vanderbilt University

Megan Behringer, Ph.D. - Principal Investigator

Megan is an Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Associate Director of the Vanderbilt Microbiome Innovation Center. With a general interest in microbiology and the forces of evolution, Megan's research focuses on how new genetic variation is created and how this genetic variation shapes the way microbes colonize new environments. Before coming to Vanderbilt, Megan obtained both her B.S. and M.S. at Auburn University then continued to the University of Georgia to pursue her Ph.D. in Genetics. She then completed her postdoctoral training with Dr. Jay T. Lennon and Dr. Michael Lynch at both the Department of Biology at Indiana University and in the Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution at Arizona State University. When Megan isn't in the lab, she enjoys taking walks with her husband and their pup, Zoë.

CV:

Postdoctoral Fellows

Sarah Worthan - Postdoctoral Researcher

Sarah received her Ph.D. in Biotechnology, Science, & Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Her Ph.D. work focused on determining the physiological effects of indole production in E. coli. Her long-term research interests include exploring how bacteria communicate in a microbiome setting. When she is not in the lab, she enjoys being outdoors and loves to camp, hike, and kayak. She also loves playing with her two kitties, Curie & Applesauce!

Graduate Students

Carl Stone - Ph.D. Student

Carl obtained his B.S. in Microbiology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and spent some time after his undergraduate studies working as a research technician in Dr. Shaun Brinsmade's lab at Georgetown University. Carl joined the lab in Spring 2021 to investigate questions about microbial genomics and population dynamics. His dissertation will be focused on molecular phenotypes in E. coli experimentally evolved to feast/famine cycles.

William McLaughlin - Ph.D. Student

William obtained his B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology at Auburn University. There he worked in Dr. Aaron Rashotte’s lab studying cytokinin response factors in Arabidopsis thaliana and their role in stress response and development. He joined the lab in Spring 2023 to investigate questions about historical contingency and the evolution of cooperation in microbial populations. In his free time, he enjoys playing the banjo, Celtics basketball, and listening to an excessive amount of NPR.

Owen Hale - Ph.D. Student

Owen earned his B.S. in Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2021. There, he worked in Dr. Amit Reddi's lab studying mycobacterial heme homeostasis and completed a co-op at an agricultural biotechnology company engineering crop microbiomes to increase food production during environmental stress.

Owen joined the lab through IGP in 2022, he is interested in the ecological dynamics within microbial communities and the resulting consequences for host health. His research aims to uncover fundamental mechanisms of microbial evolution and ecology in the human urogenital microbiome.

Nia Crowley - M.S. Student

Nia obtained her B.S in Health Sciences from Spelman College in 2023. Her undergraduate research focused primarily on identifying health disparities and inequities in African American populations. Nia joined the lab in Fall 2023 where she will be investigating disparities among microbiome data and the implications of those disparities from a healthcare perspective.

Research Assistants

Zeer Cen

Zeer conducted his undergraduate research in the Behringer Lab and graduated from Vanderbilt University in May 2023. Zeer has stayed to continue researching with the lab while he applies to Ph.D. programs. Zeer is broadly interested in microbiology and genome editing in the context of evolution. Zeer's research includes examining the effects of historical contingency and bacteriophage on E. coli fitness and applying cloning approaches (P1 transduction and CRISPR) to reconstruct mutants from experimentally evolved populations.

Undergraduate Researchers

Nathan Fiedeldey

Nathan is a Sophmore at Vanderbilt University and is currently researching how the evolution to starvation stress influences antimicrobial resistance. Nathan was awarded a Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Fellowship for Summer 2023.

Doris Jiang

Doris is a Freshman at Vanderbilt University. She is conducting a reading project with Owen Hale investigating interactions between Lactobacillus and Escherichia coli in the context of Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) and Urinary Tract Infection.

Yehchan Kim

Yehchan (Martin) Kim is a freshman at Vanderbilt Univerisity. Yehchan is from Palo Alto, CA and has a broad interest in microbiology. After completing his bachelors degree, his goal is to continue research as a physician-scientist. Yehchan is currently working on projects investigating how environments and different genetic backgrounds affect mutation rates and adaptability. In his free time, Yehchan likes to read Korean and Japanese comics and play foosball with friends.

William Tyukayev

William Tyukayev is a senior at Vanderbilt Univerisity with an interest in astrobiology. William completed a summer REU experience at University of Minnesota working on Pseudomonas spp. He is currently working on projects investigating how E. coli adapt to repeated long-term starvation.