Josh is a Professor of Biology at the University of Texas at Tyler, as well as the Director of the Center for Environment, Biodiversity, and Conservation (CEBC). He received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000 and his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University in 2008. He worked as a post-doctoral research associate in the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology at New York University from 2008 - 2011. Josh’s research interests center on evolutionary genomics and ecology of imperiled species, as well as fundamental evolutionary genomics research. Curriculum vitae (PDF)

Jared is a lecturer for the Biology Department, as well as a seasonal technician for the Banta lab. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from UT-Tyler. He began working in the Banta Lab in the summer of 2019. He has worked on the ecology and genetics of imperiled freshwater mussels in East Texas, as well as on the ecology of crayfish habitats.

Kenlynn is co-advised by Dr. Joeseph Glavy in the College of Pharmacy and by Alan Lizarraga in the Department of Biology. She earned her B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Science from Oregon State University in 2022 with a specialization in Marine Conservation Genetics. Her undergraduate research focused on the foraging ecology of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) using penguin-borne video loggers. She has worked on numerous shorebird and songbird studies with the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, respectively. Currently, she is researching Snake Fungal Disease in Texas.

Schi is co-advised by Dr. Katrin Kellner. She earned her Bachelors degree in Biology from UT-Tyler in spring 2021. She is studying the population genetics of crayfish in East Texas, including the rare Bastrop Crayfish. She is interested in a wildlife management career.

Raul earned his Bachelors' degree from UT-Tyler in summer 2020. He had previously worked for the lab beginning in 2019, studying the population epigenomics of the the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. He was chosen as a NSF Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Summer Research Academy Fellow for summer 2020. Raul is returning to pursue his Masters degree and eventually plans to attend medical school.

Sarah received her first B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in May 2019. She then received her second B.S. in Wildlife Resources from the University of Idaho in December 2021. She joined the Banta Lab in the fall of 2022, studying the distributions of freshwater mussels under current vs. future environmental conditions. 

Nathan earned his B.S. degree in Natural Resource Management from Texas Tech University in the fall of 2018. He joined the Banta Lab in the spring of 2021, studying the ecology and distributions of East Texas crayfish species, including the rare Bastrop Crayfish, and he graduated in fall 2022.

Sarah earned her B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in 2018. During her undergraduate years, she is studied the genomics of production in the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum. She completed her M.S. thesis in the Banta lab in spring 2020, where she studied the population genetics of two rare Texas freshwater mussels, the Texas Heelsplitter (Potamilus amphicaenus) and the Louisiana Pigtoe (Pleurobema riddellii). Sarah then worked as a Health Education Coordinator at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (UT Health). 

Ally worked in the Banta Lab from spring of 2014 until the fall of 2019. She worked on the conservation genetics of the federally endangered Texas wildflower Leavenworthia texana, as well as the population epigenomics of the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana.

Olivia worked in the Banta Lab in the fall of 2019, studying the population epigenomics of the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana.

Star began working in the lab in the fall of 2018. She has worked on multiple projects, including the ecology of the Neches River Rose Mallow (Hibiscus dasycalyx), ecological niche modeling research on Texas freshwater mussels, the population epigenomics of the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, and the ecology of rare Texas freshwater mussels.

Ava completed a B.S. in Environmental Sciences with an Aquatic Biology Focus and Chemistry minor from Oregon State University in 2014. She graduated with an M.S. in Biology from the Banta lab at UT Tyler in December 2019. Her M.S. thesis was on the distribution of two endemic freshwater mussel species in East Texas: Fusconaia askewii (TX Pigtoe) and Fusconaia lananensis (Triangle Pigtoe). She then worked as a wildlife biologist for the State of Florida studying freshwater mussels, and then in the same capacity for Central Michigan University. She is now a PhD student in Jacob Westhoff's aquatic diversity lab at the University of Missouri, researching freshwater mussel habitats and occupancy modeling.

Alex worked in the lab from the spring of 2019 to the spring of 2020, when he graduated. He was a NSF Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Summer Research Academy Fellow in the summer of 2019, working in the lab on the epigenomics of the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, and he was selected to participate in the LSAMP Summer Research Academy Abroad program to continue his research at the University of Tübingen in Germany. He is now working as a lab technician for Astrix Techology Group on a COVID-19 vaccine. He is also applying to dental school.

Ebony was a member of the UT-Tyler Honors College, and he earned her B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in 2019. She worked in the lab from the fall of 2018 until she graduated. Her research was on climate envelope modeling of the rare Kisatchie Painted Crayfish in East Texas and Louisiana under current and future climates. She won best environmental science poster presentation at the National Collegiate Honors Council Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA in 2019. She is now a medical school student.

Bri earned her B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in the fall of 2019. Se worked in the lab during the summer of 2019, studying the genetics of rare freshwater mussels in Texas. She is now applying for medical school.

Dustin earned his B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in the spring of 2019. He worked in the lab during the summer of 2019, studying the ecology of ecology of rare freshwater mussels in Texas. Dustin earned a thesis-directed M.S. degree at UT-Tyler in Dr. Ali Azghani's lab, studying lung pathogenesis. He tragically passed away unexpectedly in 2023, and we miss him very much.

Alyssa earned her B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in the winter of 2018. She worked in the lab since 2016 on various projects relating to two endemic Texas wildflowers of conservation interest: the Neches River Rose Mallow and the Texas Golden Gladecress (Hibiscus dasycalyx and Leavenworthia texana). She was a NSF Lois Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Summer Research Academy research fellow during the summer of 2017. She also performed ecological niche modeling research on Texas freshwater mussels. She was one of 20 students selected nationwide for an internship with Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, New York in the summer of 2018 for a three-week scientific computing skills internship funded by LSAMP. Alyssa is now in dental school at Midwestern University.

Kinza was a member of the UT-Tyler Honors College, and she earned her B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in 2018. She worked in the lab on climate envelope modeling of Texas freshwater mussels. She won the best poster in her category at the Texas Academy of Science annual meeting in 2019, as well as at the Lyceum Student Research Showcase at the University of Texas at Tyler in that same year. Kinza is now a clinical associate at Abbott EP labs in Houston, TX.

Ally earned B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler. She worked in the lab since fall 2017 on multiple projects, including the ecology of the Neches River Rose Mallow (Hibiscus dasycalyx), ecological niche modeling research on Texas freshwater mussels, and, most recently, the population epigenomics of the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana.

Kathy received her B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in 2017. She worked in the lab from 2014 - 2016 on the genetics and ecology of two endemic Texas wildflowers of conservation interest: the Neches River Rose Mallow and the Texas Golden Gladecress (Hibiscus dasycalyx and Leavenworthia texana). She also worked for a summer on a Banta Lab collaboration with the Army Research Lab in Adelphi, MD, on a project involving biofuel research. She began her M.S. degree in Biology at UT-Tyler in 2018, and also worked at at the Texas A&M agricultural extension at Overton on a switchgrass biofuel project run by Dr. Tom Juenger at UT-Austin.

Megan earned her B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in Fall 2018. She worked in the lab since the winter of 2016 on the genetics and genomics of the the Neches River Rose Mallow (Hibiscus dasycalyx). She was a Lois Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) summer research fellow during the summer of 2016, and she also received a SSE/BEACON Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution travel award to attend the Evolution meetings in Austin, TX. She also performed ecological niche modeling research on Texas freshwater mussels. Megan just completed veterinary school at Oklahoma State University.

Julia earned her B.S. in Biology, with emphasis in plants, from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in May 2015. She worked in Dr. Patrick Larkin's lab on the population genetics of the sea grass Halodule wrightii. She graduated with an M.S. in Biology from the Banta lab at UT Tyler in May 2017. Her M.S. thesis focused on using genomics to distinguish closely related Hibiscus species, including the federally threatened Texas endemic Neches River Rose Mallow (Hibiscus dasycalyx).

En Tze is broadly interested in conservation as an over-arching theme to his studies. He worked on various projects in the lab from 2014 - 2016, including epigenetic effects on flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana, the genetics and ecology of Texas endemic wildflower species, and the ecology of Texas freshwater mussels. He also spent three months in Belize in summer 2016 performing floristics research for the Banta lab.

Sam was a member of the UT-Tyler Honors College, and he earned his B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in 2017. He worked in the lab from the fall of 2015 until the spring of 2017 on ecological niche modeling of the rare Texas endemic plant species, the Neches River Rose Mallow (Hibiscus dasycalyx). Sam is now in a Ph.D. program in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.

Jamie is pursuing her undergraduate degree in Biology from UT-Tyler. She was a Lois Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) summer research fellow during the summer of 2014, where she worked on the genetics of the federally endangered Texas endemic wildflower Leavenworthia texana, the Texas Golden Gladecress.

Melody received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Tennessee at Martin in May 2013. She earned her M.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in summer 2015. Her thesis work focused on the taxonomic status and distribution of the threatened Texas endemic wildflower Hibiscus dasycalyx. She was recognized for having the best student poster at the Society for Ecological Restoration meetings in 2014. Melody earned her Ph.D. in Botany in Dr. David Baum's lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022. She is now a Burpee Post-Doctoral Fellow in Botany at Bucknell University. 

Jazmin graduated with a B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in May 2015. She worked in our lab during her senior year on genome-wide and candidate gene mapping of root morphological traits in Arabidopsis thaliana. This work is in collaboration with the Corruzi lab at New York University.

Jennifer graduated with a B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler, with secondary school certification, in May 2015. She is now a teacher in the public school system. She worked in our lab from May 2013 - May 2015, on projects with Arabidopsis thaliana involving non-additive ("epistatic") genetic effects on flowering time. She was a Lois Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) summer research fellow during the summer and fall of 2013, and she has a Nature Communications paper from her work in the lab. She is now a high school science teacher in the Dallas, TX area.

Raul is received his B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in 2017. He worked in our lab from May 2013 - May 2014 on a variety of different projects involving the growth, development, genetics, and phenotyping of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Justin received his B.S. in Biology from Boston College. Previously he worked as a laboratory technician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, studying immunoassays. Justin earned his M.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in summer 2014. His thesis work focused on the genetic basis of tolerance to apical meristem damage in Arabidopsis thaliana. He then worked as a laboratory technician in Zachary Lippman's lab at Cold Spring Harbor Lab. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Dr. Matthew DeGennaro's tropical ecology lab at Florida International University, where he is the head TA for their genetics labs. He is studying the genetic basis of cnidarian-algal symbiosis in coral reefs.

Miles graduated with a B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in May 2013. He worked in our lab from August 2011 - June 2013, on projects with Arabidopsis thaliana involving (1) the genetic basis of tolerance to apical meristem damage, and (2) epistatic effects among flowering time loci on architectural and life history traits. He was a Lois Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) summer research fellow during the summer and fall of 2012. Miles is earned a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution in Dr. Ken Paige's lab at the University of Illinois. He is an IGERT fellow (NSF interdisciplinary training program) in the research area of plant-herbivore interactions. After his time as a post-doctoral research associate in Dr. Katrina Dlugosch's lab in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Airzona, he became a genetics researcher for Weyerhaeuser in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Miles graduated with a B.S. in Biology from UT-Tyler in May 2013. He worked in our lab from August 2011 - June 2013 on the genetic basis of tolerance to apical meristem damage. He was a Lois Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) summer research fellow during the summer and fall of 2012. He is now a high school biology teacher in East Texas.