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Dr. Alec Lackmann
Alec is a postdoctoral researcher leading research efforts on the life history of Bigmouth buffalo. Alec completed his Ph.D. on life history of Arctic Chironomidae with Dr. Mac Butler. The work on Bigmouth buffalo began as a side project on his Ph.D. The initial findings on the buffalo fish are remarkable, recently published in Communications Biology. Alec is in the process of developing other manuscripts on Bigmouth buffalo populations in Minnesota and North Dakota. Here is a recent news article from an angling magazine on some of Alec's findings. Alec also maintains the Longevity Lab for disseminating information on how to determine age in fish.
Nik Snyder
Nik is a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Wendy Reed. She received a prestigious NASA fellowship as an undergraduate when she began conducting research on embryonic development in Franklin's gull. Nik also found that chicks from eggs laid late in the season (which have faster growth rates) incur greater cellular damage than chicks from eggs laid early in the season, potentially discovering one cost associated with a more rapid growth rate. For her Ph.D. work, Nik is doing a cross-species comparison to determine potential hormonal mechanisms regulating embryonic development in birds.
Derek Sauer
Derek completed an accelerated BS/MS program in Spring 2019. His thesis research focused on the relationship between chronological age and telomere length in a native fish, the Bigmouth buffalo. Derek also explored age-related variation in immune characteristics in buffalo fish. His thesis work is currently being reviewed for publication in a scientific journal, and we will update status as we hear from the journal. Derek is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in New Zealand on a project examining the morphology of the inner ear in sharks.
Ethan Boertje
Ethan finished his M.S. degree in Spring 2018. He profiled within-season variation in two maternally-derived hormones, Testosterone and Thyroid hormone, in the eggs of Franklin's gull. Both hormones are known to alter growth rates in chicks (and chick embryos), however they are regulated by independent axes in the mother. Ethan's thesis was recently published in Waterbirds (in fact it was the cover piece)! Like Derek, Ethan entered the accelerated BS/MS program - in fact he was the first student to complete this unique degree.
Here is a link to Lab Alumni
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