The Specht Lab group comprises a powerful cohort of fearless researchers — including grads, undergrads, and postdocs — all working together to understand the patterns and processes of plant evolution and diversification.
Chelsea Specht
Associate Dean of Faculty
Assistant Director for Diversity & Inclusion (SIPS)
Barbara McClintock Professor in Plant Biology
School of Integrative Plant Science & L.H. Bailey Hortorium
Fellow, Atkinson Center
cdspecht@cornell.edu
(she/her)
Postdoctoral Fellows, Scholars and Researchers
Jacob Landis
Research Associate & Teaching Professor
(he/him)
email
Jacob’s personal webpage
Lab Technician and Research Assistant
Yolanda Michelle Adwoa
Ph.D. Candidate in Health Psychology
Researcher (she/her)
email
Graduate Students
Ayress Grinage
Graduate Student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology – Fall 2020
Dean’s Scholar
HHMI Gilliam Fellow 2022
email
Heather Phillips
Graduate Student in Plant Biology – Fall 2018
(she/her)
email
Justin Scholten
Graduate Student in Plant Biology, Fall 2022
email
Graduate Student in Plant Biology – Fall 2023
Dean’s Scholar
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Undergraduate Researchers
Camryn Turner
Plant Sciences – 2025
Danielle Sonnenleiter
Laboratory Assistant
Former Specht Lab Personnel
Throughout the years, the Specht Lab has always been more than the sum of its parts. This is because of the individuals that have passed through, and the interactions they’ve had which generate a supportive, creative, innovative and welcoming scholarly and social environment that thrives on diversity of perspectives. If you’ve been a member in the past and are interested in joining our mentoring slack channel, please contact me. Also, join our FB group and slack channel (the Spechtaculars) and keep in touch!!
Lab Managers and Research Associates
Heather Driscoll
Lab Manager & Research Associate
Currently: Research Faculty, Norwich University
Roxana Yockteng
Research Associate / Lab Manager
Associate Specialist in Plant Evolution
Currently: Researcher at Agrosavia
ryockteng@berkeley.edu
Kelsie Morioka
Undergraduate Researcher
Lab Manager/Technician
Currently: Lab Manager, Blackman Lab, UC Berkeley
kelsiemorioka@gmail.com
Maria Pinilla Vargas
Lab manager and research technician
(she/her)
mp2232@cornell.edu
Gisel De La Cerda
NSF Post-baccalaureate Research Fellow
2021 BS in Environmental Science, UC Berkeley
Postdoctoral Fellows
Etelvina Gandara
Postdoctoral Fellow
UC MEXUS Postdoctoral Fellow
Mary Guisinger
Postdoctoral Fellow
Nisrine Machaka-Houri
Postdoctoral Fellow / Visiting Scholar
nmachaka@gmail.com
Vincent Merckx
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Research Leader of the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity (NCB Naturalis) at Leiden (NL)
Alma Pineyro Nelson
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Professor Metropolitan Autonomous University
almapineyro@gmail.com
Eduardo Ruiz Sanchez
UC Mexus Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Associate Professor, Univ. de Guadelajara
ruizsanchez.eduardo@gmail.com
Will Iles
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: lecturer and researcher, University of British Colombia
will.jd.iles@gmail.com
Samuel Vanden Abeele
BAEF Postdoctoral Fellow
(he/him)
sv467@cornell.edu
Eugenio Valderrama
Postdoctoral Researcher
(he/him)
email
Shayla Salzman
Undergraduate apprentice, UC Berkeley
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Collections-based research at Cornell University
Currently: Assistant Professor, University of Georgia Department of Entomology
(she/her)
sms728@cornell.edu
Shayla’s personal webpage
Graduate Students
Dr. Chodon Sass
Graduate Student – PhD Awarded 2010
Postdoctoral Scholar
Research Associate
Currently: Project manager at MyAncestry.com
Dr. Madelaine Bartlett
Graduate Student – PhD Awarded 2010
Currently: Professor, UMASS Amherst Department of Biology
Dr. Tanya Renner
Graduate Student – PhD Awarded 2012
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Assistant Professor, San Diego State University
Currently: Associate Professor, Penn State University
Dr. Ana Almeida
Graduate Student – PhD Awarded 2013
Fulbright/CAPES Postdoctoral Fellow
Ernst Mayr Finalist, SSE
Currently: Associate Professor, CSU-East Bay
Dr. Stephen Yee
Graduate Student – PhD Awarded 2015
NSF DDIG / UC Mexus
sfyee@berkeley.edu
Dr. Riva Bruenn
Graduate Student – PhD Awarded 2017
Berkeley Fellow; Vlamis Research Fellow
rbruenn@berkeley.edu
Currently: Assistant Professor of Biology, Santa Rosa Junior College
Kali Lader
Graduate Student, MS 2016
Microbiology
kmlader@berkeley.edu
Gracie Benson-Martin
Graduate Student, MS 2017
Plant Biology
graciebensonmartin@gmail.com
Thiago Andre
Visiting Graduate Student, 2015
Currently: Professor of Botany at the University of Brasilia
thiagojcandre@gmail.com
Dr. Joyce Chery
Graduate Student – PhD Awarded 2019
NSF Graduate Research Fellow; Chancellor’s Fellow; Dissertation Year Fellow
Assistant Professor, Cornell University
Currently: Assistant Professor, New York University
Dr. Carrie Tribble
Integrative Biology – PhD Awarded 2020 joint with Rothfels Lab @ UCB
NSF Graduate Research Fellow;
DS421 Doctoral Fellow
NSF Postdoc with Rosana Zenil-Ferguson at UH Manoa
Currently: Assistant Professor and Herbarium Curator, University of Washington, Seattle
Gabriela Torres
Visiting Graduate Student – UF Viçosa, 2018
gabrielatorres.bio
Qianxia Yu
Visiting Graduate Student
South China Botanical Garden
2019-2020
qy87@cornell.edu
Clarice Guan
MS Plant Biology – Awarded 2021
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Presidential Life Sciences Fellow
(they/them)
email
Dr. Jesus Martinez Gomez
PhD in Plant Biology Awarded 2022
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Cornell Dean’s Fellow
UC Berkeley Chancellors Fellow;
Hellman Graduate Fellow
Currently: NSF and UC Presidential Postdoc, UC Berkeley
Dr. Adriana Hernandez
PhD in Plant Biology Awarded 2022
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Lewis and Clark Field Scholar
Atkinson Center for Sustainability Research Fellow
Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society Scholar
Schmittau-Novak Graduate Fellow
Yale Ciencia Academy Graduate Fellow
(she/her).
Currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, California Academy of Sciences
Distinguished Visiting Scholars
Mohammad Reza Dadpour
Visiting Scientist
Professor, University of Tabriz
mr.dadpour@berkeley.edu
Elena Alvarez-Buylla
Visiting Scientist
Miller Visiting Professor
eabuylla@gmail.com
Wagner Campos Otoni
Visiting Scientist
UF Viçosa, Brasil
Huanfang Liu
Visiting Scientist
Visiting Researcher
hfliu@scbg.ac.cn
Undergraduate Researchers
Jennifer Bartlau
Undergraduate Researcher
Shayla Salzman
Undergraduate Researcher, Technician
Currently: Assistant Professor, University of Georgia. Completed PhD (Harvard University with Dr. Naomi Pierce).
Andrew Brown
Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: Running marathons and in Medical School
Chrstian Cabuslay
Undergraduate Researcher
SPUR – MEB Honor’s Degree 2016
Currently: Graduate Student, Temple University
Hillary Cooper
Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: Graduate Student at Arizona State University, NSF IGERT Fellow
Olivia Cope
Undergraduate Researcher
SPUR
Currently: Graduate Student, U. Wisconsin-Madison
Sara Fraley
Undergraduate Researcher
Claudia Garcia
Undergraduate Researcher
McNair Scholar
Shalika Gupta
Undergraduate Researcher
ES Thesis on ENM in Heliconia
Claudia Henriquez
Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: Lab Manager and Research Associate, UCLA (PhD from Washington University, St. Louis)
Colin Hill
Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: Medical Doctor at USC
Julie Huston
Undergraduate Researcher
Christina Johnson
Undergraduate Researcher
-received her PhD from Miami of Ohio
-collections curator with NASA
Esther Kim
Undergraduate Researcher
Eli Koral
Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: aspiring plant morphologist…
Neha Kumar
Undergraduate Researcher
URAP
neha.kumar@berkeley.edu
Laura Lagomarsino
Undergraduate Researcher, David’s Scholar
-PhD from Harvard (Chuck Davies)
-NSF Postdoc (MoBot)
Currently: Associate Professor and Herbarium Director, LSU
Felicia Lee
Undergraduate Researcher
feliciaklee@berkeley.edu
Irene Liao
Undergraduate Researcher
SPUR – GPB Honor’s and Departmental Citation 2010
PhD (2020) from Duke University
Currently: NSF Plant Genome Postdoc @ UCLA
Michelle Liu
Undergraduate Researcher
URAP – MCB Honor’s Degree 2016
myxliu@berkeley.edu
Lynn Ly
Undergraduate Researcher
SPUR – GPB Honor’s Degree 2016
lynnly1200@berkeley.edu
Emily Markham
Undergraduate Researcher
Cameron Musser
Undergraduate Researcher
SPUR
camileigh@berkeley.edu
Jared Nathanson
Undergraduate Researcher
URAP & SURF/Rose Hill; Honors
jarnathanson@berkeley.edu
Grady Pierroz
Undergraduate Researcher
SPUR
gradypierroz@berkeley.edu
Román Ramos Báez
Undergraduate Researcher
SPUR
Graduate student at University of Washington, HHMI Gilliam Fellow
Currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Chicago
Chris Sangster
Undergraduate Researcher
Stacy Shen
Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: USC Medical School class of 2017
Sankar Sridaran
Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: Medical Doctor, UCSB (MD from Case Western)
Sarah Starkey
Undergraduate Researcher
Crystal Sun
Undergraduate Researcher
Miranda Sun
Undergraduate Researcher
Honor’s MCB
mirandasun@berkeley.edu
Susana Torres
Undergraduate Researcher
Debra Wang
Undergraduate Researcher
Yizhuo Wang
Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: Graduate Student in Public Health, Columbia University
Josephine Wong
Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: Research and quality control at BioRad
Ben Wong
Undergraduate Researcher
Amy Wray
Undergraduate Researcher
Joyce Jiao Xue
Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: on her way to Med School (class of 2017)
Katharine Yu
Undergraduate Researcher
URAP
Office: 510.642.6731
katharine.z.yu@berkeley.edu
Amy Yu
Undergraduate Researcher
Annie Zell
Undergraduate Researcher
SMART : GPB/IB 2017
Currently: Graduate Student in Plant Ecology
Ioana Anghel
Researcher
Volunteer
Currently: PhD student at UCLA with Felipe Zapata
Valerie Lavenburg
Undergraduate Researcher
valeriel@berkeley.edu
Molly Ng
Laboratory Technician and Research Assistant
Currently: NSF Graduate Research fellow with Selena Smith, UMich
Maria Eduarda (Duda) Maldaner
Visiting Undergraduate Researcher
maldanerme@gmail.com
Zhaoqi Wang
Plant Sciences – 2020
Jessica Dobler
Biology – 2020
Rosemary Glos
Senior Thesis: Comparative analysis of cycad (Zamia) leaf anatomy
Plant Sciences Major – 2020
Currently: Graduate student, University of Michigan
Iriel Edwards
Environmental Science and Sustainability – 2020
Currently: Farm Manager, Jubilee Justice
Irving Jason Rose
Morphological evolution of
underground organs in the
Asparagales
Biology Major – 2021
RCPRS Fellow
ijr23@cornell.edu
Dariana Argueta-Zamora
Calochortus biodiversity
Biology – 2022
Aaliyah Holliday
Tempo and mode of inflorescence evolution in Asparagales.
Biology – 2021
Dextra Award
Avi Simon
Biological Sciences – 2022
Aryaman Saksena
Biological Sciences – 2022
Tara Atluri
Biological Sciences – 2025
Tara was a passionate and gifted botanist, artist and writer. She was taken from us much to early, and we still mourn her absence while praising her ongoing and pervasive presence. In 2023, we started a summer internship in her honor at the Bailey Hortorium Herbarium. Please take some time to learn more about her life, joy, and impact.
Nola Rettenmaier
Honors Thesis; Biological Sciences – 2023
Nicholas Rocha
Entomology & Plant Science – 2023