PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PROFESSOR DR. RYAN HECHINGER
Our group has three overarching research goals. First, to reveal the role of parasites in ecosystems. Second, to use parasites to help find universal ecological and evolutionary truths. Third, to “keep it real”. Please see our research and publications pages for details on how we achieve these goals. Email Ryan.
STAFF
Oath of the Hechinger Lab Watch
LAB MANAGER: ANDREW TURNER
Andrew works on lots of things in the lab and field, and generally keeps lab operations flowing smoothly. He got his BS in Microbiology from UC Santa Barbara in 2013, but he’s been working with Dr. Hechinger and his ilk since time immemorial. Email Andrew.
POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
DR. ADRIENNE MORA
Adrienne examines how manipulative parasites affect the evolutionary ecology of their hosts. Some of her research has examined parasitic effects on host personality, courtship, and predator-prey interactions. She plans to expand her work in the Hechinger lab by investigating relationships between host personality, physiology, disease risk, and fitness. Email Adrienne. Go to her website.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
DANIEL METZ, PHD STUDENT
Dan primarily works on trematode sociality and runs the lab’s DNA sequencing operation. He first started working with Ryan as a visiting ESA undergraduate research fellow studying a ciliate parasite of crabs. He got his BS in Biology from Radford University in Virginia. Email Dan. See his webpage.
ANAI NOVOA, M.S., PHD STUDENT
Anai is developing a dissertation project to examine how parasitism interacts with species range boundary shifts. She is also working on the diversity and abundance of louse parasites of estuarine birds. She got a BA in Biology from University of California, Santa Barbara, and an MS in Marine Science from University of San Diego. Email Anai.
ALEX NELSON, M.S. STUDENT
Alex is working on describing trematodes from Cerithideopsis californica. She graduated from UCSD with a B.S. in Marine Biology and Biochemistry.
TITUS HARTMANN, B.S-M.S. STUDENT
Titus works on a project examining the hemolymph of Cerithideopsis californica. He has a B.S. from UCSD in biochemistry with a marine science minor.
LAB INTERNS
JORDAN INGCO, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
Jordan assists with various projects within the lab. He is currently earning a B.S. in Marine Biology with a Minor in Psychology at UCSD.
EMMA PALMER, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
Emma assists with projects examining trematode sociality and describing trematodes from Cerithideopsis californica. She is an undergraduate student at UCSD double-majoring in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution and Marine Biology.
VISITORS
SIRI HELENE RIISE
Siri visited us, here and there, from Norway. She worked on the Euhaplorchis–Fundulus parasite project, focusing on how parasitism alters host physiology, and the anatomy and chemistry of the brain. She has a BS in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and a M.Sc in Physiology, both from the University of Oslo.
DR. IDA BEITNES JOHANSEN
Ida was a visiting Postdoc from The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Oslo, Norway. She was working on the Euhaplorchis–Fundulus parasite project, which was a collaborative project between NMBU and the Hechinger lab. She has a BS in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and a M.Sc in Physiology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway and a Ph.D. from NMBU.
DR. EMLYN RESETARITS
Emlyn is interested in species interactions and how these interactions can have large and unexpected effects on communities and ecosystems. Her current work focuses on the role parasites play in aquatic food webs and ecosystems, and how parasites respond across different scales of organization.
DR. MANUEL ROBERTO GARCIA-HUIDOBRO MORENO
Roberto is interested in understanding the effect of environmental variability on the host-parasite relationship. His project studies the influence of the temperature and ocean acidification on two parasitised molluscs by digeneans along the coast of Chile. His work involves field collection and experiments that evaluate the performance of hosts against these environmental stressors. Currently, he is a research associate at the Centro de Investigación e Innovación para el Cambio Climático, and coordinator of the PhD program in Conservación y Gestión de la Biodiversidad at the Santo Tomas University, Chile. Email Roberto. Website.
MAJOR COLLABORATORS
DR. KELLY WEINERSMITH
Euhaplorchis–Fundulus parasite project. Email Kelly. Go to her website.
DR. OYVIND OVERLI
Euhaplorchis–Fundulus parasite project. Email Oyvind. Go to his website.
DR. ARMAND KURIS
Email Armand. Go to his website.
DR. KEVIN LAFFERTY
Email Kevin. Go to his website.
DR. MARK TORCHIN
Email Mark. Go to his website.