Lab Members

KZ Lab 2025

Ben Gonzalez

PhD student at UT Austin; blgonzalez(a)utexas(dot)edu

My research interests center on eco-evolutionary dynamics and the interactions between distinct selective forces. I am particularly interested in understanding how differing ecological contexts and sexual selection drive diversification of reproductive structures and strategies. By using unique and historically understudied systems to answer these questions, I hope to generate knowledge about poorly understood taxa and shed light on broad-scale evolutionary processes.

Chloé Allen-Love

PhD student at UT Austin; chloe.allen(a)utexas(dot)edu

I am interested in amphibian immunogenetics, co-infection, and global climate change. I study how three amphibian pathogens fluctuate seasonally in north Georgia and central Texas. I am also testing how priority effects and global warming will alter anuran immunogenetics through experimental co-infection trials and differential gene expression.

Rebecca Clemons

PhD candidate; rclemons(at)utexas(dot)edu

I am interested in wildlife disease ecology with a focus on the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This pathogen threatens amphibians worldwide, and is an exciting opportunity to study a fungus that infects vertebrates. I want to know what genetic factors drive host susceptibility and pathogen virulence, and how those factors impact one another. Ultimately, I would like my research to contribute to the conservation of threatened amphibian species.

Céline Carneiro

PhD student; celine.c(at)utexas(dot)edu

I am interested in exploring how environmental change will influence population dynamics and adaptive potential of amphibians. Specifically, I want to identify important genomic drivers of resilience, or lack thereof, in amphibians threatened by altered landscapes and climate change. My goal to use contemporary and historic data to predict future population dynamics as environmental threats progress over time. 

Brittany Dobbins

Lab Technician; brittany.dobbins (at) austin (dot) utexas (dot) edu

I am broadly interested in evolutionary developmental biology, in particular the molecular and developmental mechanisms underlying parallel and convergent evolution in hypogean phenotypes. My MS examined differences in the lateral line system between surface and subterranean salamanders, pairing morphological analyses with immunohistochemical detection of the transcription factor PAX6

Madeleine Griswold

Undergraduate Researcher

Iris Schmeder

Undergraduate Researcher

Anat Belasen

Research Associate, UT Austin; abelasen(at)utexas.edu

I am interested in the evolutionary and genetic mechanisms behind variation in disease susceptibility in vulnerable wildlife host species. For my postdoc research, I plan to investigate the genetic mechanisms of susceptibility/resistance to the frog pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). I will identify candidate resistance genes and evaluate whether evolutionary changes have occurred in these genes following Bd epizootics. By identifying the genetic mechanisms of Bd resistance, we can more effectively mitigate and predict future Bd outbreaks. [Anat’s Website]

Edmund Basham

Stengl-Wyer Post-Doctoral Scholar, UT Austin; edmund.basham(at)utexas.edu

I am an amphibian ecologist from Cambridge, England, who loves exploring and researching the processes and scientific mechanisms of how amphibians live among tropical rainforests. As a canopy frog specialist, I hope to tease apart the responses of amphibians to seasonal climate across the vertical gradient from ground to canopy.

Kelly Zamudio

Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, UT Austin. Endowed Fellow, Doherty Chair in Molecular Biology. kelly.zamudio (at) austin (dot) utexas (dot) edu

My research is in the fields of population biology, population genetics, systematics, and the genetics of conservation. I am particularly interested in the links between patterns of geographic genetic differentiation and attributes of the ecology and life history of organisms such as mating systems, dispersal, and demography. In my research I combine field and laboratory (molecular) approaches to answer questions about organisms, their environments, and their histories.

KZLab Alumni

KZLab 2024
KZLab 2019
KZLab2017
KZLab 2012
KZLab 2010
KZLab 2004
KZLab early 2020’s

Post Docs:

Ph.D. and M.S. Graduates:

Researchers and Visiting Scholars

  • Nadya C. Pupin, PhD Student, UNESP Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil [2025]
  • Ryan Arnott
  • Micaela Puertas Montoya, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru [2024]
  • Gabriela Alves Ferreira, PhD Student, UESC, Bahia, Brazil [2024]
  • Carla Martins Lopes, Post-doc, UNESP Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Miranda Gray, Science Educator, Queen’s Botanical Garden
  • Fabio Perin de Sá, PhD Student, UNESP Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Renato Nali, UNESP Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Gabriel Faggioni, Universidade Federal Mato Grosso do Sul
  • Thais Condez, UNESP Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Amanda Santiago Lantyer Silva, UNESP Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Valorie Titus, Assistant Professor, Green Mountain College
  • Juliana Zina, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia – UESB
  • Tereza Thomé, UNESP Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Christine Voyer, Science Education, Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Undergrads

  • Ashwin Narayanan [UT ’24]
  • Maia Rogers [UT ’24]
  • Ryan Arnott [UT ’23]
  • Randy Arnold
  • Brianna Mims, Grad, AMNH
  • Alison Haigh, Herpetologist, Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands
  • Sean McHugh, Grad, Wash U.
  • Joe Barron, US Fish and Wildlife Scientist
  • Jalia Dash, Research Specialist, Weill Cornell Medicine
  • Marina Hydeman, Science Education, San Francisco
  • Mike Yuan, Cal Academy of Sciences
  • Karen Tracy, Scientist, Vir Technologies
  • Pavitra Muralhidar, University of Chicago
  • Melissa Lenker, Env. Analyst, MASS-DOT
  • Adriana Gata-Garcia, MD, New York, NY
  • Iris Holmes, Post-Doc Cornell
  • Michael Gründler, Post-Doc U Michigan
  • Tina Barbasch, Post-Doc UIUC
  • Michelle Ohmer, University of Mississippi
  • Sarah Fitzpatrick, Kellogg Biological Station