Current Lab Members
Fall 2018 L to R: Ava, Cole, Chloe, Jenny, Justin, Jessica, Abhilesh, Omera, Ibrahim & Kristi
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The Montooth Lab is located on the beautiful City Campus at the University of Nebraska-LincolnWe also spend time at Cedar Point Biological Station
May 2022 L to R: Cole, Ibrahim, Nitin, Lisa, Abhilesh, Omera & Kristi
Summer 2022 Lab Gathering L to R: Lisa, Miyauna, Omera, Violetta, Rudy, Abhilesh, Nitin, Patrick, Yousuf, Colin & Imogen
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Kristi Montooth, PI
I study how genomes and physiologies evolve in ectotherms in response to environments. I am driven by my fascination with cell membranes, energetics, and mitochondria - all of which present unique dynamics for mutations in populations and phenotypic evolution. I am a Mama to two girls, about a million flies, some butterflies, some crickets, some adorable little snails, and, every once in a while, some protists.
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Post-Ph.D. Researchers
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Dr. Omera Matoo, Research Assistant Professor
Broadly, I am interested in how organisms respond (mechanistically and evolutionarily) to environmental challenges (both biotic and abiotic). My research in the Montooth lab aims to provide insight into the genetic basis of physiological adaptation in Drosophila under varied thermal and ethanol environments. I am testing the hypothesis that the ability to maintain metabolic rates is under selection, and that the mitochondria (& their lipids) play a central role in maintaining metabolic rate under heterogeneous environments.
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Dr. Ibrahim El-Shesheny, Visiting Research Assistant Professor & Assistant Professor, Tanta University, Egypt
Dr. Ibrahim is a junior faculty member visiting us from the University of Tanta in Egypt. His research program uses insect physiology to inform sustainable pest management strategies. In our lab, Dr. Ibrahim is using systems genomics approaches to understand thermal performance in insects.
Dr. Megan Kobiela, Postdoctoral Fellow, UNVEIL
I work at the interface of ecotoxicology and evolutionary biology to understand how animals respond to novel toxins over many scales, from individual-level physiological plasticity and behavior to evolutionary time. By studying a vast array of toxins, both natural and anthropogenic in origin, I seek to elucidate why some individuals or species can persist in the face of novel toxins while others do not. My current research in the Montooth lab uses both butterflies and Drosophila to investigate the causes and consequences of toxin tolerance.
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Dr. Lisa Treidel, PoE and NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
We are excited to welcome Dr. Treidel to our group in August 2021. She will be working on the eco-evolutionary dynamics shaping wing- and flight-polymorphism in North American Gryllus crickets in collaboration with the William's Lab at UC Berkeley.
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Graduate Student Researchers
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Cole Julick
My research aims to understand the physiological, developmental, and energetic causes and consequences of reproductive diapause that supports migration and overwintering in North American populations of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. Applying an energetic framework to dissect the causes and consequences of reproductive diapause promises to yield insight into how energy conservation enables physiological adaptations for overwintering strategies like migration.
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Abhilesh Dhawanjewar
I investigate the evolution of genetic networks, especially those involving mitochondrial-nuclear interactions, using experimental and computational approaches. My current projects involve testing various models of mitochondrial-nuclear coevolution by estimating the temporal order of amino acid substitutions in the nuclear and mitochondrially-encoded proteins comprising the molecular machinery for oxidative phosphorylation. I also investigate the genetic basis of heat-induced male sterility through experiments using mitochondrial-nuclear hybrids of Drosophila.
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Miyauna Incarnato
Miyauna is part of the UNL Resilience NRT and does research in collaboration between our lab's monarch team and the Velez Arango Lab in UNL Entomology. This summer Miyauna is doing research in parks and prairies around Lincoln to investigate whether urban plantings of milkweed support robust monarch development and migration physiology.
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Nitin Bansal
Nitin is part of our newly funded Nebraska Insect MicroBiome Initiative (NiMBi). Nitin's master's thesis research revealed how mating in Drosophila melanogaster enhances immune function agains bacterial pathogens. His PhD thesis research investigates the impact of host genotype-metabolism-microbiome-environment interactions on immune function and life history traits.
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Research Assistant
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Jenny Libov
I am a senior from Omaha, Nebraska, and aspiring medical student. My major is in Biological Sciences with minors in Sociology, Biochemistry, and Humanities in Medicine. I am funded by a UCARE grant to investigate potential benefits of mitochondrial antioxidants for a fruit fly model of Parkinson's Disease.
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Undergraduate Student Researchers
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Olivia Miller
I am a junior from Lincoln, Nebraska. As a pre-medicine student, I am double majoring in biological sciences and history and minoring in classics. I am funded by a UCARE grant to measure the thermal performance of the OXPHOS mitochondrial machinery in flies, paramecium, and the New Zealand mud snail.
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Vanessa Reiser
I am a sophomore from Omaha, Nebraska. I am currently a pre-medicine student majoring in biological sciences with a minor in dance. My research in the Montooth Lab investigates physiological plasticity in migrating and overwintering butterflies.
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Lauren Reiman
I am a sophomore from Hastings, Nebraska. Currently, I am a pre-medicine student majoring in biological sciences and minoring in music. My UCARE-funded research investigates the interaction between nutrients and immune function in the fruit fly.
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Chloe Hogue
I am a Senior from Sioux City, Iowa. My major is Biological Sciences and I am minoring in Gerontology. I will be applying to Medical School in the fall of 2019, and am currently assisting in the research of mitochondrial function/physiological compensation within Drosophila.
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Ava Wetrosky
I am a senior from Nebraska City. I am a biology major hoping to gain more insight on what I want to do when I graduate. My research in the Montooth Lab investigates the effects of genetic variation in energy metabolism on immune function in the fruit fly.
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Joevy Sun
I am a junior from Malaysia, majoring in Biological Sciences and keen to pursue graduate studies. My research in the Montooth Lab focuses on the physiological plasticity of migratory monarch butterfly populations.
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High School Student Researchers
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Elena Dahlke
Elena is a senior at Central City High School, and is investigating the role of oxidative damage in a Drosophila model of Huntington’s disease.
NTV News highlighted Elena and her work in a story on student science projects at Central City High School. |
