Alumni
Dr. Sam Johnson
Class of 2018
Sam’s research looked at the detection and prevalence of Mycoplasma in alligator snapping turtles in Illinois.
Dr. Seema Patel
Class of 2018
Seema spent a Summer in Ohio surveying for snake fungal disease.
Dr. Megan Britton
Class of 2018
Megan was involved in numerous projects with the lab. Her research focused on the geographical distribution of snake fungal disease.
Dr. Jessica Huntington
Class of 2018
Jessica’s research focused on blood smears of snakes with snake fungal disease.
Dr. Brittany Willeford
Class of 2018
Brittany’s research project investigated mosquitoes as a potential vector for infectious diseases in free-ranging reptiles and amphibians.
Dr. Evan Emmel
Class of 2018
Evan’s research project investigated thermography in the health assessment of free-ranging box turtles.
Dr. Erin Newman
Class of 2018
Erin spent the Summer in the Chicagoland area assessing the health of Blanding’s turtles. Her research focuses on using CT scans to measure body condition in turtles.
Dr. Katie Hayward
Class of 2018
Katie spent a Summer in Tennessee with the Clinch River Environmental Studies Organization teaching students and collecting samples to test for diseases in reptiles and amphibians.
Dr. Kayla Boers
Class of 2018
Kayla was involved in numerous projects for the turtle team. Her project investigated the role the canine search team has in the transmission of turtle pathogens.
Dr. Karisa Tang
Dr. Tang is a 2014 DVM graduate from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. She completed a residency in the Illinois Zoological and Aquatic Animal Residency program and completed a concurrent MS project on Peruvian pinnipeds.
Dr. Kelsey Low
Kelsey completed her PhD at the University of Illinois in 2019. Her research focused on identifying disease outbreaks that affect multiple species of herps.
Dr. Julie Sheldon
Dr. Sheldon has completed a Illinois Zoological and Aquatic Animal Residency and is eager to pursue a career in conservation medicine. Her Masters project developed objective criteria for evaluating gait assessments in penguins with osteoarthritis and evaluating commonly used analgesic agents within that model.
Dr. Dana Lindemann
Dr. Lindemann is a 2012 DVM graduate from Oregon State College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed a residency in the Illinois Zoological and Aquatic Animal Residency program while pursuing a concurrent MS focusing on disease epidemiology in the Blanding’s turtle in Illinois.
Dr. Grace Archer
Class of 2017
Grace joined the lab in 2014 as a veterinary student. She studied the epidemiology of co-pathogens in free-ranging box turtles.
Dr. Claire Butkus
Class of 2017
Claire joined the lab in 2014 as a veterinary student. Her project focused on obtaining bone marrow from deceased turtle shells to test for ranavirus.
Dr. Lauren Novak
Class of 2017
Lauren joined the lab in 2014 as a veterinary student. Her research looked at Mycoplasma prevalance in birds.
Dr. Suzette DePersio
Class of 2017
Suzette joined the lab in 2014 as a veterinary student. She used CT scans to validate methods of body condition estimates in box turtles.
Dr. Ellen Haynes
Dr. Ellen Haynes received her PhD in the lab studying the epidemiology and treatment of Snake Fungal Disease. She earned her DVM from Cornell in 2013 and joined the lab in 2017.
Dr. Marta Kelly
Class of 2020
Marta has worked on various projects with box turtles, Blanding’s turtles, alligator snapping turtles, and snakes. Her research included investigating disinfectant strategies for snake fungal disease.
Dr. John Winter
Class of 2020
John was involved in multiple projects in the lab through chelonian field work and lab animal care for snakes, turtles, and bearded dragons. He authored two publications with the lab including assessing leukocyte quantification methods in box turtles and pathogen prevalence in Blanding’s turtles.
Dr. Lauren Mumm
Class of 2020
Lauren’s research involved analyzing hematology and plasma biochemistries of the state-endangered Blanding’s turtle.
Dr. Megan Gramhofer
Class of 2020
Megan’s research involved looking at snake fungal disease and educating the public on the importance and value of snakes.
Dr. Taylor Jones
Class of 2020
Taylor’s project focused on detecting the prevalence of herpesvirus in Alligator Snapping Turtles.
Dr. Caitlin Hemby
Class of 2020
Caitlin’s research focused on projects involving fungal disease in bearded dragons.
Dr. Jeremy Rayl
Class of 2021
Jeremy completed his PhD in Comparative Biosciences with a focus on wildlife epidemiology as part of the Veterinary Medical Scholars Program. He researched the immune function of turtles in response to ranavirus in the lab and in the field.
Dr. Kirsten Andersson
Class of 2021
Kirsten performed fieldwork with Blanding’s turtles and worked on a case study associated with one of the turtles. Shealso conducted research with plasma protein levels and how those might be an indication of the health in this particular Blanding’s population.
Dr. Bryce Dibadj
Class of 2021
Bryce’s research involved determining if snake fungal disease can be detected in snake sheds, a retrospective study on Anseriformes survival and determining a method for producing thrombocyte/leukocyte rich plasma in bearded dragons.
Dr. Katy Klein
Class of 2021
Katy was a co-turtle team leader, where she helped fellow veterinary students learn and improve on reptile handling and blood collection. She finished her manuscripts on her two of her projects: eastern box turtle (EBT) lactate levels and EBT hematologic differences using two different anticoagulants.
Dr. Ivana Levy
Class of 2021
Ivana worked on four research projects that were focused on prognostic indicators for survival in guinea pigs, rats, and eastern grey squirrels.
Dr. Brina Gartlan
Class of 2021
Brina’s research involved assessing ocular health in Eastern and Ornate box turtles!
Dr. Greta Doden
Class of 2021
Greta studied the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Salmonella spp. in wild eastern box turtles.
Dr. Aubrey Engel
Class of 2021
Dr. Katie Vivirito
Class of 2021
Dr. Eliana Foltin
Class of 2022
Dr. Michelle Waligora
Class of 2022
Dr. Kennymac Durante
Class of 2022
