Current Lab Members

Lorena Torres-Martínez – Principal Investigator

TorresMartinez_CV_2023_Summer

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Seahawk Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF)

Sophia Koontz – Summer 2023

Sophia is currently a junior student at St Mary’s College of Maryland. She joined the lab as a directed research student in the spring of 2023 and was awarded a SURF fellowship to study the effects of sea level intrusion in the symbiotic interaction of legume cover crops with rhizobia. She is using as a model system white clover. You can find more information about her project and research findings on her website.

Mel Byrne – Summer 2022

Mel joined the lab in the Spring of 2022 and got interested in the abundance and presence of Phytophthora spp across coastal forests of Maryland. Her summer research project evaluated the abundance of Phytophthora spp across a salt intrusion gradient along coastal forests in the Potomac River. Mel is now pursuing a Masters degree in bioinformatics at John Hopkins University.

St Mary’s Project Students (SMPs) – FA 2023-SP 2024

As part of their graduation requirement at St Mary’s College of Maryland, students develop their own independent research project during their senior year. I am very excited to have wonderful and motivated students join my lab to develop their senior research projects. Here is a bit of information about them:

Jocelyn Fillius

My senior project at St Mary’s college of Maryland is addressing how different cover crop plants can influence the bacterial community composition of historic farmland soil in Southern Maryland

Andrew Rawley

My SMP research project is addressing the competitive advantage of native rhizobia in Maryland farmlands with respect to regularly used commercial inoculant strains in the cover crop White clover.

Morgan Marzec

For my senior project at SMCM, I am researching darkling beetle insecticide resistance and efficacy in different East Coast population in collaboration with the University of Delaware.

Colleen Smith

I am currently an undergraduate senior at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. For my senior project, I am researching how saltwater intrusion is impacting coastal and riverine fungi in Southern Maryland.

Directed Research Students (Fall 2023)

Tyffany Dioko

I started my directed research in Spring of 2023. I am in charge of creating inbred lines of Acmispon species (legume species native to California) and quantifying trait variation among genotypes under common garden conditions to ascertain patterns of local adaptation.

Juniper Humphrey

Sophia Koontz

I started my directed research in spring 2023. After my SURF internship, I am continuing studying the  the effects of sea level intrusion in the symbiotic interaction of legume cover crops with rhizobia by using molecular approaches to ascertain which rhizobia strain is most competitive under salt stress

Isabella L’Italien

I started my directed research in Fall 2023. I am currently reviewing scientific literature that has evaluated the effects of climate change in native bee populations in Southern Maryland

Jackson McLean

I started my directed research in Fall 2023. I am currently learning molecular tools such PCR to analyze the diversity of soil rhizobia in coastal Maryland soils

Greenhouse Technicians

Kaila Webster

Kaila Webster is a senior student at SMCM. She is the greenhouse technician intern, her primary duties revolve around creating and maintaining an ideal environment for plant growth and experimentation. This involves ensuring the greenhouse remains organized and sterile. She supports colleagues’ student laboratory experiments by setting up designated aisles and assisting in the field when necessary. Additionally, she is responsible for caring for the teaching collection of carnivorous plants, ensuring their health and vitality. Moreover, she contributes to the greenhouse’s sustainability by propagating non-carnivorous plants, mostly needed for teaching principles of biology II (BIOL106)

Ava Linz

Ava is  a freshman student at SMCM. She is currently a greenhouse technician intern, her primary duties revolve around creating and maintaining an ideal environment for plant growth and experimentation. This involves ensuring the greenhouse remains organized and sterile. She is also responsible for caring for the teaching collection of carnivorous plants, ensuring their health and vitality. Moreover, she contributes to the greenhouse’s sustainability by propagating plants needed for teaching principles of biology II (BIOL106)

Past Undergraduate Trainees

I have had the fortune to train a great team of undergraduate students at Purdue, Tulane University and at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) . They were a key component for the development of my Ph.D. and postdoctoral research projects.  I have also had the fortune to train several students at St Mary’s College, here is a little information about them:

Mary Ardita

Mary did her SMP project over the fall 2022-spring 2023. Her research project aimed at understanding the effects of drought in the legume-rhizobium symbiosis.

Kirsten Geraldine Asis

I am currently working on understanding rhizobia adaptation to increase levels of salinity in Maryland soils

Jordan Manns

Jordan did his SMP project over the fall 2022-spring 2023 and was a directed research student over the spring of 2022. Jordan was awarded a Xigma-Xi grant to study the effects of salt intrusion in the symbiotic association of baldcypress trees with arbuscular mycorhizal fungi.

Sam Muir

Sam was a directed research student since fall 2021 until spring 2023. He was also a research assistant in the lab in spring 2023. His research focused on identifying the diversity of oomycetes in soils of coastal forest across a salt intrusion gradient.  Sam is now pursuing a masters in data science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jacob Rothschild

I am a Biology Major at the University of California Riverside. I am primarily interested in genetic engineering and its possible applications in combating desertification and food shortages on our planet. My hobbies include gardening, fishing, kayaking and backpacking. I joined the Sachs Lab in the Winter of 2018. I have worked under the supervision of Dr. Torre-Martinez in the research project aiming to elucidate the evolution of host-specificity in Acmispon spp. I am currently developing my own research project in the Sachs lab aiming to elucidate host-symbiont signals for nitrogen uptake.

Tram Le

I am currently a pre-med student at the University of California, Riverside majoring in Biology. During my free time, I enjoy reading, sketching clothing designs, exploring new and cool places, and spending time with my family. My main interest has always been healthcare, but I want to open myself to other fields of expertise and develop skills across a wide range of areas. In Dr. Sachs lab, I am working as a research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Torres-Martinez in the Acmispon spp project.

Zenia Rana

I am currently a student at the University of California, Riverside and am working towards receiving a Bachelors of Biochemistry with a Medical Science Emphasis. When I am not trying to pursue my bachelors degree I love spending time with my family, friends, and very importantly my cat Milo. I assisted Dr. Torres-Martinez during my time in the Sachs Lab with the Acmispon spp project. As an undergraduate I decided to apply and work in Sachs lab to find my passion and career path.

Emma Tower

I graduated in May from Tulane’s 4+1 program with my masters in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. As an undergraduate at Tulane I majored in Ecology with minors in Public Health and Studio Art. I enjoy camping, gardening, and painting in my free time. In the Van Bael lab, I studied the impacts of abiotic stress on the microbiomes of several wetland and tropical plants. Researching endophytes brought me to some incredible ecosystems, including the rainforests of Panama, oil-spill degraded salt marshes and cypress-tupelo swamps in coastal Louisiana. This year, I participated in Dr. Torres-Martinez” research on the impacts of flooding on bald cypress endophyte communities. I’ve recently moved from New Orleans to Boston to work as a research associate at Indigo Agriculture, a startup that is harnessing the beneficial effects of endophytes on crops for sustainable agriculture.

 Miranda Hendrix

I recently graduated Tulane University with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a minor in Spanish. In the Van Bael lab, I assisted in Dr. Torres-Martinez research looking at the effects of flooding in baldcypress trees, an important tree in the South for storm protection. I am interested in coastal restoration, and in the future hope to work more in this area. I also plan on attending medical school in the fall of 2019.

Emma Darr

I graduated from Tulane University in 2017 with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a minor in Chemistry. As an undergraduate I began working in the Van Bael lab because I am interested in research that explores the complex relationships between plants, microorganisms, and humans. During my senior year I collaborated on Dr. Torres-Martinez’s project investigating the response of Bald Cypress endophytes to inundation stress.

 Suraya Williams