In May 2018, Tanya received her Master of Science degree through the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) at the University of Windsor in Canada. While at GLIER, she focused on understanding the impacts of ontogeny, invasive species, and partial migration on the alimental ecology of lake sturgeon, a species at risk. Currently, she is a Ph.D. student at the Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences at Southern Illinois University - Carbondale. The overall purpose of her dissertation is to explore the past, present, and future resource requirements of invasive carp by uncovering (1) current habitat uses and requirements, and (2) their and other invasive species’ expansion potential amidst climate change.
Yixuan is a Ph.D. student at the Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences at Southern Illinois University - Carbondale. Her research explores the trophic ecology, sex biased movement, and reproductive energetics of invasive Silver Carp. Prior to joining SIU, she received her M.S. (2023) and B.S.(2020) from Shanghai Ocean University, where her Master's research focused on the link between foraging behavior and energy accumulation in jumbo squid.
Junman is a Ph.D. student in Dr. Heist Lab. He is interested in how species evolve through adapting to changing environments, what molecular mechanisms play into polyploid organism adaptive evolution, and how conservation genetics is done. Currently, he is working on developing and optimizing GTseq (Genotyping-in-Thousands by sequencing) SNP panel for species discrimination in the genus Scaphirhynchus and investigating population genetics of pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus), an endangered species in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. More specifically, he is looking at the population structure and effective population size of pallid sturgeon in different management units to assess the species recovery and reconstruct the demographic history using hundreds of SNPs data.
In 2022, Ryan completed his undergraduate degree at Eastern Illinois University with a major in environmental biology and minor in chemistry. In 2025, he received his Master of Science degree through Eastern Illinois University’s Center for Fisheries and Aquatic Science. During his time at EIU, his research focused on impacts of instream restoration on the community structure and functional composition of lotic fish assemblages. Currently, he is a Ph.D student at the Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale under Dr. Whitledge. His research focuses on utilizing microchemistry to understand lotic fish populations.
Koaw completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado – Boulder in the study of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology. He spent a number of years in the private sector, primarily consulting and working on his own nature-education company (Koaw Nature) before returning to academia. Currently he is pursuing a M.S. at SIU within the Zoology Department and the Center for Fisheries Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences. Currently, his research focuses on species assemblages, movements, and interspecific interactions for fishes transitioning/inhabiting within swamp and riverine habitats. Studying fishes and fishing are among his favorite activities.
In 2015, Thomas earned his Associate of Arts and Associate of Science from Lorain County Community College. He then graduated in 2020 from Cleveland State University with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with a focus on Biology. During his time at Cleveland State, he interned with the University of Florida’s Project Coast to monitor Red Tide in the Big Bend Region in the Gulf of Mexico. Thomas is currently a master’s student in Dr. Garvey’s lab researching silver carp and shovelnose sturgeon.
In 2020 Kelli received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Ohio Northern University. She is currently a master’s student in Dr. Garvey’s lab studying invasive silver carp.
Hailee graduated magna cum laude from the University of Rhode Island in 2018, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife & Conservation Biology. Since then, they have worked in the across the country, doing everything from conducting electrofishing surveys with the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife to collecting otoliths from spawned Chinook salmon in California with the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. Hailee is excited to be experimenting with sediment resuspension, toxin uptake, and selective feeding with the Lydy Lab at Southern Illinois University.
Braden Weaver is currently working on method development for the detection of neonicotinoid pesticides in chickens. These compounds can enter nontarget animals through various routes of uptake and may cause unintentional adverse health effects within the organism. Braden recently graduated from the University of Wyoming with a B.S in Chemistry and moved to Carbondale where both him and his spouse are enrolled in a graduate program.
Jack Zeitzheim is a master's student working in Dr. Whitledge lab. He graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Science with a focus on Marine, Freshwater, and Environmental Biology. He is from Ohio and has worked with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as an intern before pursuing his master's at SIU. His thesis project is on invasive silver carp in the Ohio River basin. Specifically, he is using strontium isotope otolith microchemistry to determine their natal spawning and recruitment habitat. By tracing these chemical signatures, his work aims to assist resource managers in understanding the location of silver carp reproduction, which can help with mitigation and management strategies of these invasive species. He also assist with many other research projects on the Ohio River including the long term electrofishing project (LTEF).
