Graduate Students We have a dedicated team of graduate students who are doing their part to advance the field of comparative neuroanatomy. Click on each student to learn more about their individual projects. PhD Candidate, UNC Wilmington Emily Peele PhD Candidate, University of Auckland Derek Sauer PhD Candidate, UNC WilmingtonEmily Peele Visit Emily’s Page I received my B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2016, where I completed an honors project studying wound healing at the umbilicus in neonate bonnethead sharks. I also worked for 4 years as an aquarist technician at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher during my undergraduate studies, where I participated in several research projects involving elasmobranch physiology and reproduction. PhD Candidate, University of AucklandDerek Sauer Visit Derek’s Page I received a B.S. in Zoology (2017) as well as a M.S. in Biology (2019) from North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. My master’s thesis focused on telomere length and senescence in an exceptionally long-lived freshwater fish species known as bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus). Past Members Gone but never forgotten. Check out our past lab members who have moved on to other amazing opportunities. But, once a ZoMBiE, always a ZoMBiE! MSc Candidate, UNC Wilmington Russell Ward MSc Candidate, UNC Wilmington Sarah Rheinsmith PhD, University of Western Australia Victoria Camillieri-Asch PhD, Simon Fraser University Chris Mull MSc Candidate, UNC WilmingtonRussell Ward Visit Russell’s Page I received my B.S. in Biology with minors in Statistics and Geology from West Virginia University in 2021. As an undergraduate, I performed research in neuroethology, where I conducted behavioral experiments investigating the function of a pair of neurons in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. MSc Candidate, UNC WilmingtonSarah Rheinsmith Visit Sarah’s Page Sarah graduated from Florida Southern college with a BSc in Marine Biology with a minor in environmental science in 2018. At her time at Florida Southern she completed her thesis on the diet of the Bonnethead shark within the Tampa Bay region. After her undergraduate career, she spent three months at a field research internship in South Africa conducting research on several elasmobranch and invertebrate species. PhD, University of Western AustraliaVictoria Camillieri-Asch Visit Victoria’s Page Victoria completed her BSc with an Honours degree in Marine Sciences at The University of Queensland in 2011, focusing on behavioral responses of elasmobranchs to anthropogenic electromagnetic fields. She received her PhD from The University of Western Australia investigating olfactory abilities in elasmobranchs compared to teleosts. PhD, Simon Fraser UniversityChris MullI’m a marine biologist interested in using an interdisciplinary approach to broad ecological and evolutionary topics. My main focus is studying chondrichthyans, an under-appreciated vertebrate group. I have worked in reproductive physiology and ecology, behavior, and toxicology and try to use tools from these various fields to answer new questions. I conducted my PhD work at Simon Fraser University with Dr. Nick Dulvy and Dr. Kara Yopak. My dissertation focused on chondrichthyan evolutionary ecology, and I used comparative techniques to examine the interaction between life-history evolution and brain development. We found that pre-partum maternal investment, in the form of matrotrophy, is associated with increased relative brain size, and that brain organization varies with life history and lifestyle. You can find out more about my work by following me on twitter (@DrSharkbrain).