Dr. Gifty Anane-Taabeah
Professor
Gifty defended her PhD dissertation in September, 2018. Dr. Anane-Taabeah is working as a Lecturer in the Department of Fisheries and Watershed Management at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.
VT Advisor: Dr. Emmanuel Frimpong, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Dr. Corinne “Cordie” Diggins
Post Doctoral Fellow
Cordie began a post doctoral appointment in August 2016 with the USGS Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. She has been studying the federally endangered spruce-fir moss spider, as well as continuing work on the federally endangered Carolina northern flying squirrel.
VT Advisor: Dr. W. Mark Ford, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Dr. Stephen DeVilbiss
Stephen defended his Ph.D dissertation in November 2020, and is headed to Oxford, Mississippi for a postdoc with the USDA-ARS National Sedimentation Lab.
VT Advisor: Drs. Brian Badgley and Meredith Steele, School of Plant and Environmental Science
Dr. Jonathan Doubek
Assistant Professor
Jonathan defended his Ph.D dissertation in May 2018. He worked as a postdoctoral associate in the Stockwell laboratory at the University of Vermont. As of summer 2019, he joined the Lake Superior State University School of Natural Resources and Environment as an Assistant Professor of Fisheries and Aquatic Ecology.
VT Advisor: Dr. Cayelan Carey, Department of Biological Sciences
Dr. Angie Estrada
Director, Summit Municipal Park
Angie defended her Ph.D. dissertation in November 2019. In 2020, Angie became the first woman to serve as director of Summit Municipal Park, known as the only public botanical garden and zoo in Panama.
VT Advisor: Dr. Lisa Belden, Department of Biological Sciences
Dr. Becky Fletcher
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Scientist
Becky defended her Ph.D. dissertation in September 2019.
VT Advisor: Dr. Jacob Barney, Plant and Environmental Sciences
Dr. Derek Hennen
Derek defended his Ph.D dissertation in April 2020. He is currently continuing research at VT with Dr. Paul Marek, and intends to seek out opportunities in Insect Collection Management.
VT Advisors: Dr. Paul Marek, Department of Entomology
Dr. Heather Governor
Risk Assessor, EnSafe, Inc.
Heather defended her Ph.D dissertation in December 2017. She is currently a Risk Assessor with EnSafe, Inc.
VT Advisors: Dr. Leigh-Anne Krometis and Dr. Cully Hession, Department of Biological Systems Engineering
Dr. Sydney Hope
Sydney defended her Ph.D dissertation in December 2019.
VT Advisor: Dr. William Hopkins, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Dr. Cathy Jachowski
Assistant Professor
In August 2016, Dr. Cathy Jachowski joined the faculty in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation at Clemson University. Freshwater Conservation Ecology Lab at Clemson University.
VT Advisor: Dr. William Hopkins, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Dr. Ryan McClure
Post Doctoral Fellow
Ryan defended his Ph.D dissertation in August 2020, and is working on the Forecasting Lake And Reservoir Ecosystems (FLARE) project with Drs. Cayelan Carey and Quinn Thomas at Virginia Tech.
VT Advisors: Dr. Cayelan Carey, Department of Biological Sciences
Dr. Daniel Medina
Post Doctoral Fellow
Daniel defended his Ph.D dissertation in July 2018. Daniel is headed to the Amphibian Natural History Laboratory of the University of Campinas, where he will be working as a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Dr. Luis Felipe Toledo.
VT Advisors: Dr. Lisa Belden, Department of Biological Sciences
Dr. Max Ragozzino
Biological Control Entomologist
Max defended his Ph.D dissertation in May 2020. He is currently working for the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
VT Advisor: Dr. Scott Salom, Department of Entomology
Dr. Tony Timpano
Post Doctoral Fellow
Tony defended his Ph.D dissertation in August 2017. He is currently a post-doctoral associate for the Virginia Tech Forest Hydrology and Soils lab.
VT Advisors: Dr. Stephen Schoenholtz, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, and Dr. Carl Zipper, Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences
Dr. Laura Schoenle
Assistant Director, Office of Undergraduate Biology, Cornell University
Laura defended her Ph.D dissertation in May of 2017 and started a post-doctoral position in August ’17 investigating how immune function scales with body size in mammals. In 2018, she began working at Cornell University as the Assistant Director/ Coordinator of Undergraduate Research and Honors.
VT Advisor: Dr. Ignacio Moore, Department of Biological Sciences
Dr. Ben Vernasco
Post Doctoral Fellow
Ben defended his PhD in August 2019. He is currently working with Dr. Heather Watts as a postdoctoral scholar at Washington State University.
VT Advisor: Dr. Ignacio Moore, Department of Biological Sciences
Dr. Carl Wepking
Executive Director, Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative at Colorado State University
Carl defended his Ph.D dissertation in August of 2018. He is currently at Colorado State University as the Executive Director of the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative within the School of Environmental Sustainability.
VT Advisor: Dr. Michael Strickland, Department of Biological Sciences
Dr. Maya Wilson
Maya defended her PhD in November 2019.
VT Advisor: Dr. Jeff Walters, Department of Biological Sciences
