Fraser McKee is conducting his Ph.D. on links between plant defenses and insect performance, using larch and friends as a model system. His interests are broad, including agricultural pest management, forest entomology, insect physiology/ behaviour and community/population ecology, as well as the biology of large mammals and carnivores such as grizzly bears and sasquatch. A repository of knowledge about the biomechanics of cheetah spines and other random facts, he also hikes, snowboards, snowshoes, camps, plays hockey, boxes, squashes, runs, and grows ratty facial hair.
| Andrea Hefty joined us Sept 2011 on a project co-advised by Dr. Rob Venette with the USDA Forest Service. She likes cutting down trees (and planting them occasionally), hiking, biking, rollerblading, swimming in lakes, apline skiing, yoga, topographic maps, badminton, bugs, local music (mostly bluegrass and hip-hop) and wearing fun boots with butterflies on them.
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Derek Rosenberger joined us Sept 2012 from Belize, Central America, where he served as Director of an off-campus field program focused in tropical ecology and sustainable development. While completing his M.A. in Higher Education (Taylor University, 2009) with research in environmental service learning, Derek also snuck in some forest entomology work on Emerald Ash Borer with the Indiana DNR and was hooked! Derek has a B.S. in Biology and is an avid birder, insect collector, and composter. Adjusting with Derek to the shocking change in temperature after their years in Belize are his wife Ashley and Belizean-born son Isaac.
| Samuel Fahrner joined us May of 2011 to work on the biological control of emerald ash borer. Sam completed his B.S. in Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity at the University of California, Davis before spending a few months with Americorps serving underprivileged kids in inner-city New York. In addition to forest entomology, Sam enjoys watching and playing a variety of sports, being outdoors, traveling, looking for burritos, and working on his Spanish.
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Marissa Streifel joined the lab in July 2013 to study the distribution of European gypsy moth that has become established in Minnesota. Marissa received her BS from the University of Florida in 2010 and worked on a variety of projects as a field technician in some very harsh conditions. During a final sampling expedition in Biscayne National Park, Marissa caught a female Schaus Swallowtail which will be used to start a captive breeding program for this endangered butterfly. An outdoor recreation enthusiast, Marissa enjoys hiking, biking, rock climbing, canoeing, trail running, camping, and snowboarding. She anxiously anticipates the new adventures that living in snow will bring!
| Rachael Nicoll joined us November 2013 to study the interface between forest entomology and natural resources policy with a focus on the European gypsy moth. She is co-advised by Dr. Dennis Becker in the Department of Forest Resources. With a BS in Forest Resources, Rachael currently works as Information Specialist at the Minnesota Forest Resources Council, where she supports the MFRC's forest policy and landscape-level management initiatives. In addition to work and school, Rachael likes to bike, oil paint, bake, work on her fungal identification chops, hike, fish, and last but not least, add to her insect collection (a prized souvenir of Brian's first U of MN entomology course in 2010!)
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