Adrienne Mora

My research is focused on the evolutionary ecology of host-parasite interactions.  I use field and laboratory studies to examine how parasites influence predator-prey interactions, competition, community composition, disease ecology, and sexual selection. I am also interested in understanding how biotic (behavior, physiology) and abiotic (environmental) factors affect infectious disease dynamics. Much of my work involves studying aquatic species at beautiful salt marshes along the California coast. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Hechinger lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UC San Diego).

Graduate student collaborators

Lea Pollack

I joined the Sih lab in the fall of 2015 and plan to focus my research on behavioral responses to human induced rapid environmental change. As an introductory system, I am studying how ecological cues shape habitat selection by urban black widow spiders in California. At the Sih lab, I am also working on better understanding individual variation in response to ecological traps by studying foraging behavior by fish species that consume microplastics.

Current project collaborations: 
1. Parasitic effects on food competition in killifish
2. Effects of host behavioral type and temperature on trematode infection

Cameron Jones

I am interested in studying behavioral type interactions between multiple species. Specifically I am investigating how behavioral type interactions influence community dynamics in the presence of invasive species.

Current project collaborations:
1. How parasitism influences fiddler crab behavioral type across parasite development
2. How parasitism affects predation of hosts by non-host predators.

Marine Banse

Marine is a Master's student who came to our lab from the University of Namur (Namur, Belgium) to study how killifish behavioral type and environmental gradients influence disease dynamics. 

Eric Payne

Eric is collaborating on a project testing how parasitic infection influences killifish group foraging and anti-predator behavior.

Undergraduate research assistants

Jaimie Savoie

Bio coming soon!

Varsha Rajesh

Bio coming soon!
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Jesus Sanchez

Jesus works on the Euhaplorchis-killifish project. His passion for marine ecosystems continues to fuels his eagerness to get involved. He is a second year Marine Biology student at UCSD and is eager to get his feet wet in new fields, especially parasitology!

Previous students

Kennedy Gould

I am interested in learning more about behavioral ecology, particularly in marine species. I hope to learn more about predator-prey interactions through my work in the lab.

Current project collaborations:
1. Parasitic effects on killifish group foraging and antipredator behavior

Arev Markarian

As an Environmental Science and Management major, I am interested in the water quality of agricultural regions and in investigating anthropogenic links to eutrophication, and its effects on marine life and vegetation. With an overall interest in natural resource management, I am also pursuing a minor in GIS in order to map regional data.

Current project collaborations: 
1. Parasitic effects on food competition in killifish
2. Effects of host behavioral type and temperature on trematode infection

Megan Wai

As a Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology major, my research interests are in learning about fish behavior and the biology of freshwater and anadromous fish.

Current project collaborations: 
1. Parasitic effects on food competition in killifish
2. Effects of host behavioral type and temperature on trematode infection

Chelsea Johnson

I am presently in the process of exploring my research interests, but they currently include animal behavior, cognition, and personality, as well as conservation biology and ecology.

Current project collaborations: 
1. Parasitic effects on food competition in killifish
2. Effects of host behavioral type and temperature on infection

Ahua Wang

Current project collaborations: 
1. Parasitic effects on food competition in killifish
2. Effects of host behavioral type and temperature on trematode infection

David Fastovich

David is beginning a PhD program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Bitian Chen

Bitian is beginning a Masters program in the Bren school at UC Santa Barbara.

Michelle Bruno-Castillo

Pursuing a career in medicine, Michelle is currently part of the 2016-2017 cohort of the Premedical Post Baccalaureate Program at University of California, Riverside.

Sarah Gomez-Cota

Sarah is currently in her fourth year of medical school at UCR School of Medicine and is applying to residency programs for family medicine.