Principal Investigator
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Dr. Kirsten Fisher
I spent my formative years playing in creeks and ditches in northern California, where I learned to appreciate small, growing things. I earned my undergraduate degree in Biology at UC Santa Cruz, and after a couple of years of varied employment as a gardener, bakery cashier, and bank teller, decided to pursue graduate education. I was wooed into the world of mosses by Brent Mishler at UC Berkeley, who served as my PhD advisor and provided me with the opportunity to study the systematics of a tropical moss family, Calymperaceae. After earning my PhD, I did a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, NC, where I learned to appreciate barbeque and California weather. I returned to California in 2008 to join the faculty at Cal State LA, where I am now a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.
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Recent Graduate Students
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Ugbad Farah
I completed my undergraduate degree in Chemistry with a Biochemistry concentration at California State University, Sacramento. After I graduated, I worked in the Plant Pathology department at the California Department of Food and Agriculture where I was able to work with agricultural commodities and provide molecular lab assistance to investigate the citrus-greening disease known as Huánglóngbìng. As an MS Environmental Science candidate and NSF Bridges to the Doctorate Fellow, I completed my thesis on the environmental and geographic differentiation in moss species.
Contact: ufarah@calstatela.edu |
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Simone Benjamin
I completed my undergraduate degree at Cal State LA, were I received a BS in Biology and a minor in Pan-African Studies. Since graduating, I work as a Staff Scientist for an environmental firm where I am able to assist companies in creating more environmentally sustainable medical devices and perform environmental remediation on various terrains. For my MS in Environmental Science, I worked on a project that compared the phenotypic and genetic population sex ratios in Syntrichia caninervis.
Contact: sbenjam@calstatela.edu |
Graduate Research Assistants
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Lilian ChouI graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in Environmental Science and minor in Environmental Engineering. Since then, I have had a diversity of experiences in urban planning, shorebird monitoring, and ecological restoration doing fieldwork and native/local plant care in the SF Bay Area. To continue my passion for wildlife and ecology, I enrolled in the M.S. in Biology at Cal State LA. I did my Masters thesis in urban ecology in the Wood Lab. In addition, I also worked in Dr. Fisher's lab, helping prepare samples for DNA extractions, run PCRs for moss samples, and maintaining the lab.
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Amy Vasquez
eI attended Tufts University as an undergraduate, where I earned a BS in Biopsychology and Environmental Studies. I discovered my passion for wildlife field research the summer before my senior year in college after I studied abroad in Tanzania. Shortly after graduation, I enrolled in an MS in Environmental Science program at Cal State LA . I am currently working on an urban ecology project investigating how bird abundance and diversity in LA urban parks varies across a socioeconomic gradient. Although I conducted my thesis research through a different lab (The Wood Lab), I also worked in Dr. Fisher's Lab as a Research Assistant. I helped out with DNA extractions and ran PCRs on moss DNA samples among other things, as well as general lab maintenance tasks.
Contact: avasqu118@calstatela.edu |
Recent Undergraduate Research Assistants
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Vivian Soai
Hello, my name is Vivian Soai and I am currently a 3rd year studying at California State University Los Angeles. I love to explore nature and play badminton. I also spend my free time going on food adventures because I LOVE FOOD! I worked in Dr. Fisher's Lab and assisted in determining moss sex ratios using PCR, Gel Electrophoresis, and Enzyme Digestion.
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Lab Alumni
Jameka Jefferson – MS Biology 2018
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Alexa Garcia – MS Biology 2018
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Israel Jimenez Luna – MS Biology 2016
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Jenna Baughman Ekwealor – MS Environmental Science 2015
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Tigran Panasyan – MS Biology 2015
