People

Primary Investigator – Kevin Vogel, PhD

A native of Michigan, Kevin started as an undergraduate at Michigan State University where he got his Bachelors of Science in Microbiology and developed a love of entomology. Having had enough of midwestern winters, he headed southwest to the University of Arizona and received his PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Longing for real trees again, he traveled to the University of Georgia to do a post doctoral stint in the Department of Entomology. He decided he really liked Athens and joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 2017.

Nia Myers – PhD, Entomology

Nia is an alumna of Valdosta State University. At VSU, she was part of a mosquito surveillance program, in which she identified several species of mosquitoes and sent them to be tested for West Nile Virus. After her experience at VSU, she decided she wanted to continue studying entomology and mosquitoes as a graduate student, here at the University of Georgia. Currently, her research in the Vogel lab is how gene expression and hormone receptors affect mosquito reproduction.

Carissa Gilliland – PhD, Entomology

Carissa studied biology at Augustana College, a very small university in Illinois where she developed an interest in insects. When she participated in an REU program at the University of Idaho she was exposed to the world of host-microbe interactions and was hooked. Now at UGA she will be working on insect-microbe interactions in kissing bugs.

Ashley McCormick – MS, Entomology

Ashley joined the lab in 2022 after working as an undergraduate in the lab. Ashely is examining the role of symbionts in modulating neuropeptide hormones in Rhodnius prolixus.