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Slideshow

Miranda McKibben

Graduate Student
Lab:
Bensasson Lab | Miller Plant Sciences
Research Interests:

While yeast that are associated with humans have been studied in depth, yeast species that live in natural settings are understudied. It is important to study how yeast are adapting under selective pressures in an environmental setting and whether gene flow may occur between environmental and human associated yeast, which could affect human health. My research involves two types of environmental yeast: A non-human associated wild yeast, Saccharomyces paradoxus, and pathogenic environmental yeast in the Candida family. 

Grants:
  • 2023-2024, NIH T32 Genetics Training Grant, UGA, for sampling Athens for pathogenic yeast and testing for antifungal resistance
  • 2021-2022, Ecology and Evolution Fellowship, University of Chicago, Senior thesis research on allelic variation in ash trees associated with resistance to the emerald ash borer.
Education:

Admission to PhD Program in Plant Biology Department at the University of Georgia, 2022. 

B.S. Biology, with Specialization in Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, 2022. B.S. Thesis Research: Allelic variation in ash trees associated with resistance to the emerald ash borer.

Of note:

University of Chicago Dean's List (2021-2022)

Other Affiliations:

Major Professor


Douda Bensasson

Associate Professor

Committee Members

External Committee

Marin Brewer, PhD | UGA Department of Plant Pathology
Erin K. Lipp, PhD | UGA Department of Microbiology

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