Above, left. Continuous line drawing by Kevin M. Robertson about 1992.
Christine working with the big data base
Major: Biological Sciences
BS degree: Spring 2003
Thanks
to the National Science Foundation for the support of students through
the Research for Undergraduates (REU) program. [This
material is based upon work supported by the National Science
Foundation
under several grants. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or
recommendations
expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not
necessarily
reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.] (send
an e-mail if you are
interested
in doing research on fungi)
| Above, left. Continuous line drawing by Kevin M. Robertson about 1992. |
Christine working with the big data base
|
Christine
Ackerman from
Slidell, Louisiana, majored
in biology . She joined the lab as a junior and learned a
variety
of techniques to help with the yeast research. She specialized in
photography, using the digital system in the Socolosky Microscopy
Facility
to capture images of the yeasts from cultures. Major: Biological Sciences BS degree: Spring 2003 |
 LaToya and Ning
Zhang
|
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LaToya
Barber from
Las Vegas, Nevada, worked in the lab when she was a Junior Biology
major
from Xavier University of Louisiana. LaToya had plans to persue a Ph.D
program in immunology or attend medical school. LaToya was at LSU as
part
of the LAMP program in the summer of 2001. In her first research
experience
LaToya worked with Ning Zhang on a project investigating the link
between
population genetics of Discula destructiva and its
pathogenicity
to dogwood trees. LaToya is helping Ning collect data on the extent of
the infection cause by each different strain. As a newly elected MARC
Scholar
at Xavier University, in Fall 2001 LaToya began a research project with
Dr. Mark Schleuter. We wish she'd stayed longer because she really
worked
hard! The last we heard was that LaToya had a choice of several medical
schools that she could attend.
Major:
Biology (Xavier University) Poster presentations:
|
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Katie, a biological sciences major
from Lafayette, Louisiana,
began
woring in the lab as a sophmore paid by Chancellor's research
support
in the fall of 2002. She helped to write the descriptions of 300
isolates of yeasts for our Internet data base. Katie's plans
include
pharmacy school and working as a pharmacist in a hospital after that.
Major:
Biological
Sciences |
| Ann
Buckalew Ann was a zoology major who graduated from LSU with honors. After helping us acquire data in the laboratory on several different projects for three years, she left to begin medical school at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans, May 1997. She also was initiated into Phi Beta Kappa that year. Ann was supported by an NSF-REU supplement. |
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Geetha
Chockalingam worked
in the spring and fall of 2000. She studied endosymbiotic yeasts with
Dr.
Sung-Oui Suh, supported by funding from an NSF-REU supplement
and
a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant. Major:
Microbiology/ISDS
|
 |
Doan
Dang Doan worked on several projects in the lab (1999-2001), including discovering yeasts on the surface of and in the gut of beetles. She and Rebecca Sweany (see below) surveyed large numbers of cultures each day to evaluate their success. Doan went to pharmacy school at Xavier University in New Orleans in fall 2001. |
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Cathy
Dugas DeRobertis Cathy was the first student worker ever in the mycology lab. A botany major, she graduated with honors (1985, left) and went to graduate school at the University of California at Riverside (MS 1987). From there she went to work in industry. One of the projects that she did at LSU was to map wood-decaying fungi on the trees of the LSU campus; she also determined the number of mating genes present in one of the species common on living live oaks in the oak grove (n=39 --only one repeat!). One species she found in late autumn is a basidiomycete common on campus live oaks (Inonotus dryadeus). In a flash photograph on the lab web site home page you can see a slug on the basidiocarp; slugs come out only at night. See the statement by Cathy at the top of this page. Cathy was supported by a USDA Cooperative Agreement to isolate mycotoxigenic fungi from differet varieties of Zea mays grown around the world. Photograph at right, taken in 2002. Cathy is employed as a researcher in the Department of Plant Pathology at LSU.
|
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John was
the second student worker ever in the mycology lab after being
recruited
by his sister Cathy, who became jefe to him as he worked hard
to
perfect his Spanish. Yes, the lab is good training for the
many who go on to graduate school in any field. John obtained a PhD
from Indiana
University
--but in Political Science. He has taught courses in International
Relations
and Latin American Politics in the Political Science Department at
Kalamazoo
College, Kalamazoo, Michigan since the fall of 1995. John wrote, "I'm glad I'm still remembered there, even if my most memorable moment in the department was breaking five 4 liter flasks simultaneaously!" |
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Elizabeth, a Biological
Sciences major,
graduated from Isidore Newman School in 2005.She worked in the
lab
during the 2005-2006 academic year testing specific primers on a
species of yeast specific to a particular beetle throughout the eastern
USA. After graduation,
Elizabeth hopes to attend medical school and study either psychiatry or
dermatology. |
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Cennet began
her education
at LSU in the fall of 2001. She earned a Chancellor's Leadership
Scholarship
Award and is pursuing a major in Biological Science. She is interested
in both vocal and instrumental (French horn and piano) music. Cennet
became
a part of the research team in the fall of 2002. She has learned
all the
lab techniques, and is helping to edit the yeast photomicrographs for
our
growing Internet database. She has completed her first year of medical
school (Spring 2006).
Publication: Major:
Biological
Sciences |
| Jessica
graduated in biology in Spring 2005. She was supported by
NSF REU funds
during
the summer of 2001; but, alas, fungal spores made Jessica sneeze. We
miss
her! Maybe she will be an allergist after she completes medical
school.
Major: BS in Biological Sciences (2005) |
 |
 |
La Donna
transferred to
LSU from the University of South Florida because she wanted to major in
botany. In addition to her interest in plant systematics, La
Donna
became interested in mycology. She helped in the study of Pyxidiophora
isolates, and presented a poster in a summer research program for
undergraduates
at LSU. La Donna moved to Orlando after she completed her degree
in 1996, where she worked at the Land at the Epcot Center in plant
pathology
for a year and a half. She has taken a number of computer
courses,
and she plans to continue her studies in computer science at the
University
of Central Florida. This year she is a teaching assistant in a junior
level
computer science course and also is a special event manager for
Disney's
Wide World of Sports. Next year she should be able to enter graduate
school
full time. See La Donna's statement above. La Donna was supported
by an NSF-REU supplement and Howard Hughes Medical Institute
funding.
Major: BS in
Botany
(1996) |
Hester alternated doing research in mycology and ecology during her undergraduate days at LSU. After working for the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Hester went back to LSU, where she received a master's degree in Experimental Statistics. Plans to work for a PhD at Tulane University were dashed by Hurricane Katrina. She was supported by an NSF-REU supplement. Poster presentation:
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Aurash, a biology major from Metarie, Louisiana, began work in the lab in the late fall semester of 2004 and worked until Spring 2006, when bhe received his BS degree. He is undecided about whether to pursue medical or graduate studies. He was helpful in transfering cultures and performed PCR reactions. |
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Helen
Peebles Helen worked in the lab during the fall of 1999. A Plant Biology major with several young children, Helen is completed her last year as an undergraduate and went on to graduate school in Landscape Architecture. She helped Dr. Sung-Oui Suh in his study of endosymbiotic yeasts of beetles.
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| Paul Radford
(d. 1985) Paul is the only student who ever walked into the departmental office and asked to major in mycology as an undergraduate. Since that major was not available to him, he chose botany and worked in the mycology lab. Paul was a natural researcher and quickly learned the chromatography and spectroscopy techniques necessary for determination of glycine betaine in the fruiting bodies of fungi. Paul's death was a great personal loss to those with whom he worked closely with him. His independent thinking, natural apptitude for research, and enthusiasm was lost to mycology. Presentation: |
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Patty
Ricks graduated from |
|
|
Kevin Robertson
(PhD, Illinois, 2001) Kevin was really a plant ecologist, who became interested in research on fungi in his introductory botany course. His research involved surveying species of the fungus Rickia (seen above as several white tendrils attached to the rear of a beetle). He continued work on the project during several semesters. Kevin completed a PhD in ecology at the University of Illinois with Carol Augspurger in the spring of 2001. Kevin was supported by an NSF-REU supplement at LSU. Presentation: K. M. Robertson and M. Blackwell. Laboulbeniales associated with phoretic mites of dung beetles. Mycological Society of America Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon, August 1992. Major: Botany (May 1992) |
| Frost
Rollins Evolution
of asexual
ascomycetes
associated with beetles, myxomycete ecology Frost was a long term
researcher in the lab, and began her research
project
on beetle-dispersed fungi in 1998. Frost was supported by NSF-REU
supplements. In the fall of 2001 Frost entered graduate school at
Auburn University in horticulture and larter switched to Community
Planning. Frost and India moved to Chapel Hill, NC, in spring 2006,
where Frost is an urban planner for the town of Chapel Hill, and India
roams the dog friendly community. LSU Major: Plant Biology (May 2001)
|
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David is a Biological Sciences major from Oakdale, who started at LSU in fall 2003. He began working in the lab in June 2005 and worked for a year. After that he decided to concentrate on excelling on the MCAT and working on courses. |
 |
Before
automated sequencers were available, there was Brandye, who produced
the
best sequencing gels in the lab. She spent a lot of her research
time studying the ascomycete genus, Pyxidiophora (shown above
left
on moose dung). Now we hear that she gets incredibly long runs on
the automated sequencer in the Department of Animal Science at LSU
where
she works. In addition to a full time job and raising her
children,
Brandye also is enrolled in graduate school. Brandye was supported by
an
NSF-REU supplement while she was an undergraduate student. B. S.
in Botany (1992)
Poster presentations:
|
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Richard
Sisson was
a
Biological Sciences major from Calhoun, Louisiana, near Monroe in
north-eastern
Louisiana. Supported by an LSU "Top 100 Scholarship" and chosen
for
the Chancellor's Future Leaders in Research program,
he began his career at LSU in Fall 2001 as a Biological Sciences major.
Alas, Richard decided over the winter vacation to become a theater
major.
It's a small state: Richard's parents have shopped at Spat's
Pharmacy
in Monroe, Louisiana. Spat's is the pharmacy established by Joey
Spatafora's father.
Major: Biological Sciences to Theater! |
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Stacey
L. Soileau Stacey helped to show that Discula destructiva, the causal agent of dogwood anthracnose, does not have different vegetative compatibility groups in North America. Working with Ning Zhang, Stacey paired isolates from the eastern United States and the western United States among themselves and with each other to determine if a zone of interaction could be detected at the meeting of the different mycelia. Stacey also isolated fungi from spiders in a summer project in collaboration with Todd Bukowski and Terry Christensen. She was supported by an NSF-REU award and an LSU "Top 100 Scholarship." Stacey was one of fifty students chosen to receive Chancellor's research support upon coming to LSU during her time in the lab (Fall 2000-Fall 2001). Major: Biological Sciences |
 |
 |
 Ebony Spikes began research in the lab in Spring 2000. She produced a literature survey and analysis of species of Achlya, and she continued in the lab by working on yeasts from the gut of beetles that eat basidiocarp tissues. Ebony provided data on carbon and nitrogen utilization patterns of these fungi, the topic of her honor's thesis. She was supported by NSF-REU supplements and the LSU "Top 100 Scholarship." In Summer 2001 she had support from LAMP. Ebony spent the summer of 2000 at the Harvard School of Public Health doing research that culminated in a local research presentation ("Development of a gene expression system in the protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia"). Ebony received special recognition at LSU when she was chosen outstanding junior in the Honors College and in addition won the Honor's College Sternberg Award. Ebony has been choosen as a Goldwater Scholar for 2001-2002 and Outstanding Junior at LSU. Ebony attended Oxford University and the London School of Hygene on her British Marshall Scholarship and received a master's degree in Spring 2006. Next? --she plans to attend medical school. Biochemistry (BS Spring, 2002) |
Team
work: Rebecca
Sweany and
Doan Dang (see above)
|
 |
Philly,
a botany student from Thassaloniki, Greece, had the longest tenure
(four
and a half years) of any undergraduate in the laboratory. She
graduated
in 1990 and went to the plant pathology institute in Cypress, where she
completed a master's degree in plant pathology. Philly was
supported
by an NSF-REU supplement at LSU. We wish Philly would contact us
so we can know that she prospers!
BS degree (Botany 1990) |
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Amy
came to the lab for the summer 2002 from Dr. Amy Grooters's lab in the
vet school where she had worked in a study of oomycete parasites of
dogs
and other mammals. We will take her back at any time. One
of
her jobs in our lab was to photograph over a hundred yeast isolates
using
a digital camera. During this work she discovered ascospores in
some
of the passalid gut yeasts --the only sexual spores we had found
in beetle gut yeats. Amy did photography, PCR and sequencing
reactions, culturing, and anything else that needed to be done. Amy
entered medical school in Fall 2004 medical school.
BS
degree
(Microbiology, Spring 2003) |
 |
John worked on the relationship between fungi and the
beetles that
feed on them, looking specifically at the endosymbiotic yeasts found in
the gut of the beetles and in their mushroom habitats. He
graduated
in December of 2001, and continued work in the lab until May
2002.
After
a summer in Europe he returned to attend medical school at the LSU
Medical
Center in Shreveport in the fall of 2002. In the spring of 2000,
John participated in an exchange program with Central Queensland
University
in Rockhampton, Australia, and he was LSU's first ambassador to the
country
of Australia. He was supported by NSF REU funds in the lab.
BS degree
(Zoology, Fall
2001) |
