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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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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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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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Lillian Davis

Undergraduate Student

Program
Biodiversity and Conservation

Research Interest
Evolutionary Biology, Human Genetics/Genomics

Biography
Lilly is a senior 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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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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Natalie Nyborg

Undergraduate Student

Program
Bioinformatics

Research Interest
Genetics, Ecology, Conservation

Biography
Natalie is a Senior from Maryland who is passionate about sustainability and understanding how we can live harmoniously with the ecosystems around us. She loves using computational skills to visualize and work with large data sets.
Interests crafting, outdoors, baking
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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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Taden Lemmon

Undergraduate

Program
Biodiversity and conservation biology

Research interests
Entomology, evolutionary biology, conservation

Biography
Taden loves nature and thinks that insects are the coolest. He has been working with caddisflies in the Frandsen’s lab specifically on the silk production project.

Interests
reading, hiking, traveling, video games
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Emma Crabtree

Undergraduate student

Program
Biology

Research Interest
Human genetics and genomics, Conservation

Biography
Emma is fascinated by genetics and how it can help us learn more about the things around us. She is looking forward to the various processes that we use to incorporate genetics into the study of insects and expanding her skill set.

Interests
backpacking, long boarding, swimming, music, anything outdoors related
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Heidi Snyder

Undergraduate student

Program
Biodiversity and Conservation

Research interest
Entomology, Evolutionary Biology, Conservation

Biography
Heidi is a junior from Utah who is fascinated about life and life’s processes. She has always loved insects and is excited to expand her entomology knowledge by contributing to this lab.

Interests
Music (especially piano, violin, and voice), rollerblading, and racquetball
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Tayler Anderson

Undergraduate Student


Program
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology
Research interest
Genetics and Biodiversity
Biography
Tayler is a freshman from Utah and is excited to start her learning journey. She is passionate about conservation and wildlife research. She hopes to improve her skillset in the lab and the possibility to do her own research projects.
Interests
volleyball, hiking, backpacking, local music
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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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Jessica Wicks

Undergraduate Student

Biography
Jessica graduated with a BS in Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology. While she was here she worked on the Upper Colorado Basin Metabarcoding project and the Utah Megafire environmental DNA (eDNA) project. She is fascinated with all of the amazing things DNA can do. She has returned home to Oregon where she is perusing her career.
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Isabella M. Errigo

Graduate student - Masters

Biography
Isabella Errigo graduated with an M.S. She worked with Paul Frandsen and Ben Abbott. Her project used environmental DNA to understand how aquatic invertebrates, microorganisms, and fish recovery following large wildfires. During 2023 she received a Fulbright to work in Ecuador and is now at Cornell working on her PhD.
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Teagan Mulford

Graduate Student - masters

Biography

Teagan graduated with her M.S Spring 2023. During her time here she worked with Riley Nelson, Paul Frandsen, and Seth Bybee. She focused on revising a genus of robber flies. She is working on her PhD at NAU revising the Nearctic Promachus and investigating sexual selection and sperm morphology in the genus. She loves staring at insects under microscopes.
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Will Warner

Undergraduate Student

Biography

William worked as the lab manager during his last two semesters here. He graduated with a B.S. in Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology.
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Jonas Bush

Undergraduate student

Biography

Jonas graduated with a B.S. in Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology. 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.


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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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Naomi Young

Undergraduate student

Biography

Naomi graduated with a BS in Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology. She’s been involved in wet lab protein design and computational enzyme design. She loves learning about how genetics and genomics explain natural phenomenon.
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Sarah Buhman

Undergraduate Student

Biography

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.
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Ellie Gamett

Undergraduate student

Biography

Ellie graduated with a BS in Biodiversity and Conservation. She is currently at Richard Gilder Center in New York pursuing a PhD. She loves learning about the natural world and experiencing the outdoors firsthand.
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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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Ying Fei (Iris) Lin

Graduate student 

Research Interest

Odonates (Drangflies and damselflies), genomics, gut microbiomes, evolution

Biography

Iris is a masters student from Hong Kong. She is working with Dr Paul Frandsen and Dr Seth Bybee. Her research is looking at the Anax genomes and the gut microbiome of the insect order Odonata.

Interests 

Playing video games, travel, anime, hiking
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Danyon Gedris

undergraduate

Program 
Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology


Research Interests

Third Generation DNA sequencing, the variability of the genome

Biography

Danyon is a senior from Arizona who loves learning and discovering new things. He is performing Oxford Nanopore Sequencing using the latest flow cells to see how improvements allow for more accurate nucleic acid identification. He enjoys being outdoors and discovering new things.

Interests

Singing, technology, DnD

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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)