Mentorship
During my time at Illinois State University working with Ben I have had the honor of assisting in the mentorship some exceptional students. These students are highlighted below, along with what they have gone on to achieve, and many are, or will be, coauthors on publications.
Earon Grinage 2018-2020
Earon was the first undergraduate student to join the microbiota research in the Sadd lab. He worked doing pilot studies investigating how bee immunity could perturb the core microbial community. Earon has recently enrolled in the University of Illinois at Chicago for a dual MD/PhD.
Mikey Williams – 2019
Mikey worked with me in the summer of 2019 as part of his Noyce Scholarship. The Noyce Scholarship funds future science educators in a summer research experience. During his time in the lab Mikey worked on a project following up on the genotype-by-genotype interaction work. Mikey will be a co-first author on the upcoming paper from this follow-up study! Mikey currently works as a life science educator in the Chicago suburbs.
Toby Bassingwaithe 2019 – 2021
Toby initially joined the Sadd lab as a technician to care for the bee colonies, however, she transitioned into helping many of the graduate students, myself included, with our research. Toby worked with me on the project investigating how the bee immune system may perturb the gut microbiota and will be coauthor on the upcoming paper! Toby worked with a restoration ecology company but has recently returned to school for a degree in nursing.
Bryan Sierra-Rivera 2019-2022
Bryan was a Masters student in the Sadd lab who worked closely with me on the bee microbiota. During his time in the lab Bryan investigated if a common trypanosome parasite of the bumble bee gut disturbed the microbiota. Bryan is defending his thesis in November of 2022 and currently working for an agricultural biotechnology company.
Amelie Mwilambwe – 2022
Amelie has recently joined the lab and is extremely interested in how microbes influence our nutrition. This interest also stems from her love of agriculture, and she hopes to enter into a graduate program focused on improving our sustainability and public health through agricultural practices.
Teni Shosanya – 2022
Teni recently joined the Sadd lab and is working to follow-up on the immune perturbation work. Teni is working on an honor’s thesis that will expand upon this work utilizing RNAi to suppress the bee immune response, and then measuring the subsequent microbial colonization. After completing this work Teni is planning to attend a graduate school before seeking admission into a MD program.