Current and Recent Students

Caleb Huber (right), MS Fisheries Science (2007), used several types of gear to capture fish specimens in the lower reaches of the Rio Grande near Brownsville, Texas. Caleb's research addressed the habitat preferences and early reproductive development of juvenile common snook in riverine environments.
 

Naoki Kumakura (center), Postdoctoral Research Associate (2003-2005), enjoyed a break from laboratory duties by helping with field work in the Rio Grande at Big Bend National Park. Naoki's research addressed the endocrine and molecular regulation of ovarian follicle maturation and ovulation in fishes. He is now back in Japan conducting research on fish aquaculture.
 

Matt Meyer, PhD Ecotoxicology (current). Following a recent hair cut, Matt is ready to begin his research of the effects of quantum dot exposure on fish embryonic development.
 

Sandeep Mukhi (left), PhD Ecotoxicology (2006), stands beside his aquarium set ups in an environmentally regulated chamber at the wet laboratory facilities of the Texas Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit. Sandeep's dissertation research focused on the toxicology of highly energetic compounds in aquatic ecosystems. He is now conducting postdoctoral studies at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Bibek Sharma, PhD Fisheries Science (current), inserts Peepers into sediment at a study site in the Big Bend region of Rio Grande to collect and measure bioavailable sediment contaminants. Bibek's dissertation research is in the field of aquatic contaminant and conservation biology. The focus of his research is the effects of metals at sublethal concentrations on amphibian development.

Prakash Sharma, PhD Biology (current) during a field trip to Lake Mead, Nevada. Prakash's dissertation research will focus on developmental effects of aquatic contaminants in fishes.

Leticia Torres, PhD Biology (current). Leticia's dissertation research concerns the effects on early fish development of flame retardant residues in the aquatic environment.

Past Student News

Juan Zalapa (left), Postdoctoral Research Associate and Plant Geneticist at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), recently visited Texas Tech University to deliver a keynote speech at the annual banquet of TTU's McNair Scholar Program. Juan is a former McNair Undergraduate Scholar of the laboratory and is the first TTU McNair Program alumnus to have earned a PhD degree in any field of science.

This page was last updated October 2007