I am looking for a MS student for spring 2025 to study aspects of urbanization on Cardueline finches. See here.
Lab News
April 2024
Okposio Emmanuel and LeAnne Gip both earn a ~$1000 Faculty Sponsored Student Research Award. Lindsey Biehler, Alexandria Singh, and Andy Cabrera present their research at the 45th Central California Research Symposium where Biehler won a best graduate student talk on TLR4 genetic variation in Cardueline finches.
March 2024
Congratulations to Lindsey Biehler for being accepted to pursue a PhD in Molecular Biology & Interdisciplinary Life Sciences at New Mexico State University to study virus evolutionary ecology. We’re so proud of your journey and success!
Field work is well underway, with many community volunteers installing bird feeders at their homes to help us recruit finches for our NSF-funded research project. This work would not have been successful if it were not for our pioneering finch project MS students, Okposio Emmanuel, Xue Her, and Franke — you folks are amazing.
December 2023
We implemented our first Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) for Molecular Ecology (BIOL 182). Congrats to the 14 students who researched avian immunogenetics and delivered excellent talks.
AUGUST 2023
Welcome new Slade Lab MS Students - Okposio Emmanuel, Franke, and Xue Her!
Slade Lab members Lindsey Biehler & Parmeet Kaur traveled to London, Ontario, Canada, and gave fantastic oral presentations at AOS and SCO-SOC 2023 combined meeting.
May 2023
Many congratulations this month. Congratulations to Parmeet Kaur for graduating with a BS honors in biology. Also, congratulations to lab students, Chaim Rabbas, Zachary Padilla, and Clarence Curtis for graduating with their bachelor’s degrees. Congratulations to Parmeet Kaur and MS student Lindsey Biehler for being awarded an American Ornithological Society (AOS) travel grant to attend the AOS and SCO joint meeting in London, Ontario, Canada this August.
April 2023
Congratulations to Slade Lab members, MS student Lindsey Biehler, for winning the UCSF Oral Presentation award, and undergraduate RISE Student Zachary Padilla for winning the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology undergraduate poster award, at the Central California Research Symposium at Fresno State.
February 2023
Grant Announcement! Dr. Joel Slade (PI) and two colleagues (co-PIs) received a ~$468,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) New Faculty Enhancement Grant for our research proposal titled “BRC-BIO: Bird feeders in the city: the effect of urbanization on ecological immunology and microbiology in cardueline finches”
The Slade Lab is currently looking to provide funding for two MS students for this grant. See details here.
January 2023
Publication Announcement! My colleagues and I have published work on a very interesting experiment on the microbiome of dark-eyed junco’s uropygial glands. It’s published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
Whittaker D. J., Atyam A., Burroughs N. A., Greenberg J. M., Hagey T. J., Novotny M. V., Soini H. A., Theis K. R., Van Laar T. A., Slade J. W. G. (2023). Effects of short-term experimental manipulation of captive social environment on uropygial gland microbiome and preen oil volatile composition. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10, 1027399. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.1027399
October 2022
MS students Alexandria Singh and Ramon Lomeli each receive an $1000 Faculty Sponsored Student Research Award to go towards their research projects!
Publication Announcement! Slade Lab MS Student Lindsey Biehler co-authors a publication on the genome of a strain of avian Salmonella
Van Laar, T. A., Biehler, L., & Slade, J. W. G. (2022). Draft genome, sequence of a multidrug-resistant strain of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium isolated from a pine siskin (Spinus pinus). Microbiology Resource Announcements, 0(0), e00982-22. https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.00982-22
August 2022
Slade Lab research featured in Sierra News Online
may 2022
Lindsey Biehler (MS Student) and Parmeet Kaur (BS (hon) student) each awarded CSUPERB Travel Grant ($1,500 each)
Slade Lab receives a ~$15,000 CSUPERB New Investigators Seed Grant in collaboration with Dr. Tricia Van Laar
Esther Fernandez (MS Student), Lindsey Biehler (MS Student), Drew Volpp-Garcia (MS Student), and Parmeet Kaur (BS (hon) student) each received a travel grant from The Wilson Ornithological Society
april 2022
Esther Fernandez (MS Student) wins a presentation award at the Central California Research Symposium
June 2021
Esther Fernandez (MS Student) awarded at CSUPERB 2021-2022 Graduate Student Research Restart Program Grant ($7000)
December 2020
Kayla Gussman (MS Student) receives a $1000 Faculty Sponsored Student Research Award
December 2019
Esther Fernandez (BS student) and Bailey J-Sanchez (BS student) each receive a $1000 Faculty Sponsored Student Research Award