Our Team

We are a group of organismal biologists that are fascinated by many aspects of natural world and how the extraordinary levels of biodiversity we see on earth today have arisen and evolved.

TJ Firneno, PhD

(he/him)

Principal Investigator

I am an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department. I am an eternal college student who loves traipsing around the field looking for and collecting extremely uncharismatic organisms to ask and answer cool and interesting questions in evolutionary biology. I also enjoy teaching and mentoring the students in my amazing lab group, and making them passionate about the amazing and exciting biological world around us. You can find a copy of my most up to date CV here.

Lauren Mahkovic

(she/her)

Undergraduate Researcher

I am a third-year student studying geology and biology. I am interested in evolution and genetics and hope to study paleobiology full time someday!

Bella Rose

(she/her)

Undergraduate Researcher

I am a third-year student excited to enter the world of research! I'm interested in genetics, evolution, and animal behavior. My favorite animals are sharks, and I hope to study them as my career someday.

Ken Sorokie

(he/him)

Undergraduate Researcher

I am interested in pre veterinary medicine and pre veterinary studies and enjoy playing Tetris when not studying organic chemistry. In the lab, I am mainly performing cricket husbandry duties in the study of cricket plasticity / hybridization impact.

Donovan McCammon

(he/they)

Undergraduate Researcher

I'm a third-year student ready to further my research horizons! I'm studying biology, with an emphasis in genetics, genomics, microbiology, and bioinformatics. In my free time I love TTRPGs, reading fantasy novels, and playing bass.

Addy Bert

(she/her)

Undergraduate Researcher

I am a third-year student studying biology and secondary education. More than anything, I love to learn! I especially enjoy learning about how organisms and systems learn/evolve/develop. Otherwise, I love writing and creating art and music.