The Lab Team

Nate Upham, Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor.

CV | ASU profile | Google Scholar | Twitter | Github

Data products: ASM Mammal Diversity Database | VertLife mammal phylogeny

Potential students: If you're interested in joining the lab, please read this page.

Ángel Luis Robles Fernández, PhD student in Evolutionary Biology program (co-advised with Dr. Nico Franz; started 2021).

ASU profile | Google Scholar | Github

Recent papers: Wildlife susceptibility to infectious diseases | Dengue virus in mammals

Awards: GBIF Young Researcher Award | GBIF Ebbe Nielsen Award, 2nd place

Gilma De Leon, MS student in 4+1 Biology MS program (started 2022).

ASU profile | Twitter | DEI program research profile | Blog post from the DEI Biocollections Scholars 2022 program

Research interests: Animal behavior; vertebrate ecology; mammalogy and ichthyology

Projects: Gut microbiome and diet of Neotoma mexicana and Neotoma albigula in Arizona

Damien Rivera, MS student in 4+1 Biology MS program (started 2023).

ASU profile

Research interests: Evolutionary ecology

Projects: Distribution and gene flow of rodents in Arizona habitat islands

Justin Baez, Research Technician (started 2022).

ASU profile | Twitter | LinkedIn

Research interests: Macroevolution from the context of fossil biomechanics and evolutionary rates

Projects: Fossil bat evolutionary rates; Abert's Squirrel genomics

Norma Alicia Hernández Hernández, Visiting Research Scholar (started 2023).

ASU profile

Research interests: Environmental niche modeling

Projects: Niche modeling in Abert's squirrels

Luisa Zamora Chavez, MS student in Biology program (started Fall 2023).

ASU profile | Twitter | LinkedIn

Research interests: Mammalogy; herpetology; human-wildlife interactions; biogeography; phylogenetics

Morgan Pierce, MS student in Biology program (started Fall 2023, co-advised with Dr. Sharon Hall).

LinkedIn

Research interests: Conservation Science, Urban Ecology, Population Genetics

Lab Alumni

Savage Hess, GSA research assistant, 2022-2023 (Biology MS student in Varsani Lab).

ASU profile | DEI program research profile | Blog post from the DEI Biocollections Scholars 2021 program

Research interests: Molecular Ecology

Projects: Coyote virus review & discovery (MS thesis); and Revising eponymous common names in North American sciurids

  • Nicole Veeder, Undergraduate Researcher at ASU (2021-2022)
  • J.D. Hannon, Undergraduate Researcher at Western Connecticut State University (2020-2022)

External Collaborators in ASU's Biodiversity Knowledge Integration Center

Dakota Rowsey, ASU Natural History Collections Vertebrate Collections Manager.

Personal website | ASU profile | Google Scholar

Research interests: Vertebrate specimen preservation and data management; mammalian biogeography and macroevolution. Projects: Biogeography of small mammals and their pathogens in the Madrean Sky Islands; Biogeography and Evolution of Philippine Small Mammals

Matt Jones, ASU Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow.

Personal website | ASU profile | Google Scholar

Research interests: Origin, evolution, and biogeography of placental mammals; bat evolution; Paleocene-Eocene mammal evolution and diversification. Projects: Bat origins and relationships to Paleocene "insectivores"; Eocene bat diversification

  • Nico Franz, Professor and BioKIC Director
  • Beckett Sterner, Assistant Professor and BioKIC Co-Director
  • Laura Rocha Prado, Symbiota / NEON Web Developer
  • Laura Stegar, NEON Biorepository Environmental and Zoological Collections Manager
  • Rosie Liao, NEON Biorepository Research Specialist
  • Caleb Powell, PhD student in the Franz Lab
  • Prashant Gupta, Postdoctoral Researcher (now at Amazon)
  • Atriya Sen, Postdoctoral Researcher (now Asst Prof at University of New Orleans)

Other ASU Collaborators