BioGEM Scholars 2024–2025
Brooklyn M. Anaya
Brooklyn M. Anaya earned their bachelor’s degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Kansas. They are mentored by Dr. John Kelly, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Brooklyn’s research focuses on the interactive effects of polymorphic inversions on fitness in Mimulus guttatus.
Felicity Barron
Originally from California, Felicity earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Davis. She is currently working in Dr. Jocelyn Colella's evolutionary and ecological genomics, housed at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute. As part of the NSF-funded BioGEM program, Felicity's research uses RADseq to investigate genetic admixture between woodrat species in the central United States. After completing her post-bac training, she plans to pursue a PhD in ecology, focusing on mammal and plant ecology, beginning in Fall 2025.
Myles Davis
Myles Davis, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, earned his bachelor's degree in Environmental Science from Haskell Indian Nations University. He is mentored by Dr. Bever, a professor in KU’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Myles’s research focuses on soil health and its connection to native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. He will be attending KU in the Fall of 2025.
Bailey Dixon
Bailey began working with the KU Biodiversity Institute's Mammalogy Division as an undergraduate Curatorial Assistant in 2022. After graduating in May 2024, she became a scholar in the KU BioGEM Postbaccalaureate Research Program, supported by the NSF. As a BioGEM scholar and a member of Dr. Jocelyn Colella's Lab of Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics, she is currently engaging in molecular lab work to identify small mammals infected with hantaviruses and assess how pathogen prevalences change across space, time, and community structures.
Bayley Proctor
Bayley Proctor earned her bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is mentored by Dr. Kirsten Jensen, Senior Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the KU Biodiversity Institute and Professor in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. Bayley’s BioGEM research focuses on describing species in a new genus of tapeworm in the order Lecanicephalidea parasitizing the Mottled eagle ray, Aetomylaeus maculatus.
Hannah Reid
Hannah Reid earned their bachelor’s degree in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Kansas. They are mentored by Dr. Leo Smith, Associate Professor & Curator of Fishes, at the KU Biodiversity Institute. Hannah’s research focuses on the morphology, systematics, and sensory systems of deep-sea fish. Currently, they are working on describing a new species of marine hatchetfish in the genus Polyipnus.
Liam A. Wrixon
Liam A. Wrixon, a Citizen Potawatomi Nation member, earned a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science from Haskell Indian Nations University. He conducts research under the mentorship of Dr. Victor Gonzalez, a melittologist at the University of Kansas. Liam’s work explores native pollinator thermal tolerance and beetle systematics.