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College of Life Sciences Plant and Wildlife Sciences
Paul Frandsen Lab
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Current Members

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Paul Frandsen

Faculty

Research Interest
Evolutionary history of caddisflies, phylogenetics, bioinformatics, data science

Biography
Paul earned a Ph.D. in Entomology from Rutgers University and a B.S. from BYU in Integrative Biology. He loves insects, the outdoors, and technology, and his research uses all three to answer questions about evolutionary biology.

Interests Insects, the outdoors, technology
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Isabella M. Errigo

Graduate student

Program 
Environmental Science

Research Interest
eDNA, wildfire recovery, science communication, and environmental justice

Biography
Isabella Errigo is an M.S. student working with Paul Frandsen and Ben Abbott. Her project uses environmental DNA to understand how aquatic invertebrates, microorganisms, and fish recovery following large wildfires.

Interests She is most interested in the relationship between people and their environment, and wants to continue to focus on ways to improve that relationship.
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Gabriela Jijon-Nemalceff

Graduate Student

Research Interest
Caddisfly ecology, evolutionary history, and silk production

Biography
Gabriela is a Ph.D. student from Ecuador working with Professors Paul Frandsen and Seth Bybee. She is studying the evolutionary history of the insect order Trichoptera, mainly how caddisflies' ability to produce silk evolved.

Interests Cooking, swimming, horseback riding, and watching scary movies.
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Teagan Mulford

Graduate Student

Research Interest
Systematics, Taxonomy, and curation, particularly of Diptera

Biography
Teagan is a M.S. student working with Riley Nelson, Paul Frandsen, and Seth Bybee. She is focused on revising a genus of robber flies, and loves staring at insects under microscopes.

Interests Reading (mostly fiction), nail art, her cat, video games, swimming, D&D, animal husbandry
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Ashlyn Powell

Undergraduate student

Program 
Bioinformatics

Research Interest
Caddisfly genetics

Biography
Ashlyn is a junior from Dallas, Texas.  She is excited to contribute to this research lab, and hopes to learn as much as she can from this experience.

Interests Tennis, volleyball, baking, reading, technology
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Jonas Bush

Undergraduate student

Program 
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology

Research Interest
Evolutionary Biology, Human Genomics/Genetics

Biography
Jonas is a senior from El Paso, Texas. He is a massive science and philosophy nerd who loves to spend time studying new things. He hopes to use his knowledge of genetics and biotechnology to help improve quality of life wherever he can.

Interests Reading (mostly non-fiction), taking naps, netflix, philosophy, backpacking
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Brynn Mix

Undergraduate student

Program 
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology

Research Interest
Environmental and Human Genomics/Genetics

Biography
Brynn is a sophomore from Arizona. She is starting off working with the eDNA team in filtering and extracting DNA. She loves hiking, repelling, and all naturalistic activities and hopes to understand and contribute to the beauty of this earth through genetics.

Interests Dancing (tap dance specifically), camping, roller skating, travel with family
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Will Warner

Undergraduate Student

Program
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology

Research Interest
Evolutionary biology and bioinformatics

Biography
William is a senior from Idaho Falls, Idaho who loves learning from those with more experience than him. He is excited for the opportunity to apply his knowledge of genomics in a lab and natural environment.

Interests Tennis, running, concerts, snowboarding
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Naomi Young

Undergraduate student

Program 
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology

Research Interest
Bioinformatics and investigating silk proteins in Caddisfly.

Biography
Naomi is a Senior from Omaha, Nebraska. She’s been involved in wet lab protein design and computational enzyme design. She loves learning about how genetics and genomics explain natural phenomenon.

Interests Judo and Jiu Jitsu, bouldering, and reading fantasy (particularly Neil Gaiman and Brandon Sanderson).
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Sarah Buhman

Undergraduate Student

Program
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology

Research Interests
Evolutionary Genetics

Biography
Sarah is a sophomore from Orem, Utah. She loves learning about the relationship between the environment and genetics. She hopes to understand better the human impact on the environment. She loves to collect, identify, and preserve wildflowers.

Interests Roller skating, bird watching, and going to the gym.
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Lillian Buck

Undergraduate Student

Program
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology

Research Interest
Evolutionary Biology, Human Genetics/Genomics

Biography
Lilly is a sophomore from San Antonio, Texas. She loves learning about how the details of any subject work together to form the larger product. She is excited to learn and apply what knowledge she has gained.

Interests hiking, tennis, cooking, sewing, and reading
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Ellie Gamett

Undergraduate student

Program
Biodiversity and Conservation

Research Interests
Ecological interactions, Conservation and sustainability, Global climate change

Biography
Ellie is a Junior from Las Vegas, NV. She loves learning about the natural world and experiencing the outdoors firsthand.

Interests traveling, music, food, and the beach
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Danyon Gedris

Undergraduate student

Program 
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology

Research Interest
Genetics

Biography
Danyon is a Sophomore from Arizona who loves learning and discovering new things. He is starting to work with the eDNA team and excited to try out the many different opportunities the labs offer. He enjoys being outdoors and discovering new things.

Interests Tennis, singing, technology, hiking
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Jessica Wicks

Undergraduate Student

Program
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology

Research Interest
Genetics, eDNA

Biography
Jessica is a Junior from Eugene, Oregon who is fascinated with all of the amazing things DNA can do. She is very excited to experience more of it firsthand in a lab setting.

Interests Writing and reading fantasy, singing, playing board games, baking, musical theater

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Daniel Davis

Undergraduate Student

Program
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology

Research Interest
Genetics

Biography
Daniel is a Junior from Newark, Delaware. He enjoys being outdoors and observing nature, learning how the world works, and taking pictures of bugs he finds on the sidewalk.

Interests Reading and writing fantasy, going for walks, watching The Empire Strikes Back, taking care of his pet crested geckos
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Anne Monson

Undergraduate student

Program 
Biology, Civic Engagement

Research Interest
Aquatic Entomology, Decomposition, Conservation Ecology

Biography
Anne is a junior from Orem, Utah. She loves getting dirty trying new field work strategies, calling strangers on the phone, and learning how individual species connect to the wider health of an area. She hopes the understanding she gains now about the applications of genetics and disturbance recovery will serve her as she is a citizen advocate for conservation.

Interests Singing, Sewing/Cosplay, Podcasts, Urban Design
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Taylor Probst

Undergraduate student

Program
Biology & Genetics

Research interests
Herpetology, Evolutionary Biology, and Conservational Genomics.

Biography
Taylor is a Junior at BYU double majoring in Genetics and Biology. He has worked with reptiles and amphibians in the Herpetology lab for over two years and is currently studying Arizona Mountain Kingsnakes.

Interests Herping, rock climbing, and longboarding.

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Past Lab Members

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KC Rawlinson

Graduate student - Masters
(2019 - 2021)

Biography
He received his undergrad from SUU in Biology. After he graduated, he worked as a high school biology teacher. Teaching genetics in his classes led him to pursue a Biotechnology and Genetics Master's Degree at BYU. KC received his M.S. and is now doing special forces training in the U.S. Army.
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Alec Vaughan

Undergraduate student
2021

Biography
Alec has always sought to understand the world around him better and is inspired by biodiversity. He is now exploring applications of biotechnology in medicine.
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Hannah Landeen

Undergraduate student
2020

Biography
Hannah loves exploring areas where the arts and sciences intersect and collaborate. She wants to encourage her future art students to include their diverse interests into their artwork. She is now pursuing a career in teaching.
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Sarah Stoddard

Undergraduate student
2021

Biography
Sarah has always loved learning about animals and plants and helped the lab by producing scientific illustrations.
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Anna Eichert

Undergraduate student
(2019-2022)

Biography
Anna is a previous lab manager who is moving on to obtain her PhD at the American Museum of Natural History. She will be studying the evolutionary history of winter stoneflies (Capniidae) and is super stoked to continue learning!!
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Andrew Sheffield

Undergraduate student
(2019-2022)

Biography
Andrew worked with eDNA while in the lab. He is now pursuing medical laboratory science and will be working at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City after graduating. He hopes to go onto medical school in the future.
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Sloane Wheeler

Undergraduate student
(2021-2022)

Biography
Sloane helped sort and identify malaise trap samples. She is now exploring other majors on campus and is considering going into business.
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Kimberly Parker

Undergraduate student
(2021-2022)

Biography
Kimberly made contributions to both the Silk and eDNA projects through her knowledge of genomic analysis. She hopes to continue learning about genetics and its impact on the community and the environment by continuing her education through graduate school.
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Derek Polson

Undergraduate student
(2022)

Biography
Derek had an interest in genetics and the applications of CRISPR and helped the lab in various projects including eDNA, sampling, and sorting aquatic insects. He plans to return to BYU and the lab after his two-year mission.
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Hannah Kool

Undergraduate student
(2020-2021)
Biography
Hannah contributed to the eDNA project and did some kick-sampling and sorting. She worked in the Bean Life Science Museum organizing the bee collection. She is hoping to one day apply her knowledge to help conserve the environment.
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Past Lab Members

Ethan Tolman (2020-2021)
Emily Coenen (2020-2021)
Sam Hirst (2020-2021)
Seth Wilson (2018-2021)
Adam Taylor (2018-2021)
Madeline Bursell (2018-2021)
Kennedy Christensen (2020)
Lindsey Olsen (2018-2021)
Stephanie Soelberg (2019-2020)
Abby Jenkins (2019)
Shelby Gold (2019)
Lindsay Greenburg (2019)
Makinnon Baugh (2019)
Chris Castro (2018-2019)
Lauren Bryson (2019)
Emily Mullis (2018)
Avery Olsen (2018)