Caleb (they/he) is from Sherman, a small town near Dallas, Texas. In 2019, Caleb graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a BS in Biology and Microbiology and worked as an undergraduate researcher in the Mydlarz Coral Immunity Lab. Caleb then earned their PhD in Ecology at the Pennsylvania State University in the LaJeunesse Symbiosis Ecology & Evolution Lab.
Throughout his doctoral work, Caleb became fascinated with the biodiversity of endosymbiotic dinoflagellates that corals rely upon, and studied the specificity of the symbiosis in Indo-Pacific reef-building and soft corals. In the future, Caleb hopes to continue investigating the basic principles of specificity in the symbiosis and how it has become so ubiquitous across Phylum Cnidaria. In their spare time, Caleb likes to cook and hang out with his cats."
Sydney grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia and graduated in May 2024 from Penn State with her BSc in Biology and minors in Marine Science and Earth and Sustainability. Her undergraduate research at Penn State focused on characterizing the evolution and ecology of the algal symbionts of cnidarian hosts, mainly corals.
Her most recent project in Dr. Fuess’s lab looked at how different environmental conditions effect disease susceptibility in hard corals. She is very interested in coral disease ecology, the coral-algal symbiotic relationship, and coral resiliency. Outside of the lab, Sydney enjoys training for marathons, reading, and traveling.
I am an undergraduate researcher in my senior year pursuing a degree in Biology and Biochemistry. My research interests encompass genomics and biochemistry, with a focus on DNA analysis and genetic variation. I plan to pursue a master's degree in the future, concentrating on molecular genetics or genetic counseling.