Current Lab

Paul moved to UMass in 2017 after spending 20 years at Georgia State University. Since moving to UMass, he has shifted the focus of the lab from studying the swim circuits of nudibranchs to examining more deeply the structure and function of the entire nervous system of Berghia. In addition to science, Paul's passions include improv and outdoor activities, like hiking, biking, and skiing.

Alycia Fabry
Lab Manager
IONs Administrative Assistant

alycia.fabry@umass.edu

Alycia keeps things running in the lab and for the Initiative on Neurosciences. She grew up in the Valley and has a passion for animals and furniture restoration.


Lauren Wagner
Part-time  animal care assistant


Postdocs

Harshada Sant
Post-doctoral Associate
hsant@umass.edu
Harshada started working in our lab remotely from India because she could not fly here due to the pandemic. She did her graduate work with Sanjay Sane at the National Centre for Biological Science in Bangalore, where she compared the neural basis of antennal mechanoreception in many insect species. Now, she is leading the connectome project in collaboration with Jeff Lichtman's lab at Harvard.

Cheyenne Tait
Post-doctoral Associate
ctait@umass.edu
Cheyenne completed her PhD at Notre Dame university where she studied the apple maggot fly and found out how the worm in your apple found it so tasty. She was disappointed to learn that when our sea slugs metamorphose they turn into worms. Cheyenne is now looking at the hormonal regulation of reproductive behaviors in Berghia. She is also studying the structural organization of the rhinophore complex. She is a Leading Edge Fellow and a Darwin Fellow.

Students

Kate Otter
PhD Student
kotter@umass.edu

Kate joined the lab from Colorado State University where she was a Math and Biology double major. She is from both Alaska and Hawaii because she likes latecomers. She loves animals and wants to understand their wants. She was awarded a prestigious NSF predoctoral fellowship. She is a Math Mavin, combining computational and experimental approaches to study Berghia's approach and avoidance decisions. 

Phoenix Quinlan
PhD Student
pquinlan@umass.edu

Phoenix came to UMass from The Ohio State University, where she developed an interest in developmental neuroscience and evolution. She continues this evo-devo theme into her graduate work. She is working on the visual and olfactory behaviors of Berghia and has made some interesting discoveries of what these little slugs can do. In fact, she showed that those little eyes allow the slug to navigate to objects in the distance.

Phoenix was featured as an Early Career Researcher in J.E.B.

Undergraduates:

Dorian Benhamou Goldfajn, Gianna Misuraca,  Alexzander Cook, Kriti Dhiman,  Kassidy Ye, Renzci Cairo, Sarah DeAmicis, Ashna Guha, Ginaldo Verdieu, Srimaan Sridharan, Olívia DiBiasio, Elisha Alexandre 

If you are a UMass undergrad and are interested in working in the lab, check out the opportunities at Biology Undergraduate Apprenticeships  https://bua.bio.umass.edu/