People
Current Lab Members
Dr. Michael S. Barker
Professor and Associate Department Head, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology | Professor, BIO5 | Professor, Genetics GIDP | Director, Bioinformatics Degree Program | Co-Director, CAMBIUM NRT
📧 msbarker@arizona.edu | ☎ 520–621–2213 🏢 Office: BioSciences West 321E | Lab: BioSciences West 321
Dr. Tamsen Dunn
NSF PRFB Postdoctoral Fellow (starting January 2026)
Developing computational approaches to study the evolution of polyploid genomes
Geoff Finch
EEB Ph.D. Candidate
Analyzing the population genetic consequences of chromosome number evolution with a focus on the exceptional genus Xanthisma
Seongyeon Kang
EEB Ph.D. Student
Exploring chromosomal evolution in flowering plants
Alex Stewart
EEB PhD Student, NSF GRFP Fellow
Studying polyploid speciation and genome evolution in salamanders and Selaginella
Polly Barker
Lab mascot and guard dog of BSW 321E
Alumni — Postdoctoral Researchers
| Name | Fellowship/Position | Years | Current Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Justin Conover | NSF PRFB Postdoctoral Fellow | 2022–2025 | Assistant Member and Principal Investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis |
| Dr. Sylvia Kinosian | NSF PRFB Postdoctoral Fellow | 2022–2025 | Assistant Professor and Herbarium Curator at Montana State University |
| Dr. Jay Goldberg | NSF PRFB Postdoctoral Fellow | 2020–2023 | ASU Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow |
| Dr. Paul Blischak | NSF Plant Genome Postdoctoral Fellow | 2018–2020 | Data Scientist at Bayer Crop Science |
| Dr. Brittany Sutherland | NIH PERT Postdoctoral Fellow | 2017–2019 | Assistant Professor at George Mason University |
| Dr. Hannah Marx | — | 2016–2018 | Director of the L.H. Bailey Herbarium and Assistant Professor at Cornell University |
| Dr. Xinshuai Qi | — | 2014–2017 | Bioinformatics Consultant at Deloitte |
| Dr. Emily Sessa | — | 2012–2013 | Patricia K. Holmgren Director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden |
| Dr. Pat Edger | NSF Plant Genome Postdoctoral Fellow | 2012–2015 | Associate Professor in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University |
| Dr. Rebecca Rundell | G.G. Simpson Postdoctoral Fellow | 2011–2012 | Associate Professor at SUNY-ESF, Syracuse, NY |
| Dr. Nils Arrigo | Swiss FNS Postdoctoral Fellow | 2010–2012 | Senior Bioinformatician at Sophia Genetics |
Alumni — Graduate Students
| Name | Degree | Years | Current Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Michael McKibben | EEB Ph.D. | 2019–2025 | Postdoctoral fellow at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center |
| Qiuyu Jiang | EEB M.S. | 2021–2024 | — |
| Andrew Vizzerra | EEB M.S. | 2020–2022 | — |
| Dr. Zheng Li | EEB Ph.D. | 2013–2020 | Assistant Professor and Herbarium Curator at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio |
| Dr. Anthony Baniaga | EEB Ph.D. | 2012–2019 | Herbarium Curator at University of California, Los Angeles |
| Stacey Jorgensen | EEB | 2014–2017 | — |
Alumni — Undergraduates
Sophia Delgado (2024–2025), Cole Fields (2022–2023), CeeCee Hill (2022–2023), Patrick Hsu (2021–2022), Summer Dow (2020), Will Nenad (2020–2022), Yang Yang (2020–2021), Ellie Asadi (2017–2019), Tatiana Nzeukou (2018–2019), Alisa Di Pasqua (2018–2019), Denae Yutarte (2018–2019), Kyle Jenkins (2017–2018), Alex Trostle (2016–2018), Anshu Goyal (2016–2018), Alexandra Lei Pond (2016–2018), Sally Galuska (2016–2017), Chris Reardon (2014–2017), Tara Hall (2014–2015), Thomas Kidder (2014–2017), Rob Cerasa (2014–2015), Kassidi Retkowski (2014–2015), Zainab Sadeq (2014–2015), Kaitlin Ann Libby (2013–2014), Mandolina Fitzgibbon (2013), Kevin Holt (2012–2014), Rick Russell (2012–2013), Jolene Nelson (2011–2012), Rishi Masalia (2011–2012), Shing Zhan (UBC 2008–2011)
Alumni — Visiting Scholars
Carlos A. Flores López, Jill Hamilton, George Tiley, Jesse Czekanski-Moir, Hanghui Kong, Rongpei Yu, Elton Assis, Kay Hodgins