Principal Investigator

Amber M. Rice, Ph.D. Amber attained a BA in Biology from the College of Wooster and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She completed her graduate research with David Pfennig, and investigated ecological character displacement and its consequences for population divergence and speciation. She then completed a postdoc on the genetics of speciation with Anna Qvarnström at Uppsala University in Sweden. Amber returned to UNC and completed a postdoc with Karin Pfennig on reproductive character displacement’s ability to initiate speciation. In 2011, she started her lab at Lehigh University. For information on the Rice Lab’s projects, please visit our Research and Publications pages. Contact Amber at: amr511 [at] lehigh [dot] edu

Graduate Students

	Wei (William) Li, Ph.D. student. Wei joined the lab in 2024. Before coming to Lehigh, he spent his undergrad at Franklin and Marshall College as an animal behavior major. Working with a wide range of organisms both in lab and in the field, he developed an interest in ecology and evolution, which led him to the Rice Lab, where he can explore topics in speciation, hybridization, and character displacement. Contact Wei at: wel522 [at] lehigh [dot] edu
	Syrmalenia Kotronaki, Ph.D. student. Syrmalenia joined the lab in 2024. Before coming to Lehigh, she earned her BSc in Biology at the University of Crete, and went on to achieve a M.Sc. in Biological Oceanography at Kiel University in Germany, while working as a research assistant for the Invasion Ecology group at GEOMAR Helmholtz- Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. Her past research includes the population genomics of deep-sea fauna, aquatic invasion patterns, biodiversity of non-native taxa, and the adaptation potential of urban populations. Her current work includes population genomics of semi-aquatic species. Syrmalenia is interested in understanding what drives speciation in different aquatic habitats. Contact Syrmalenia at: syk321 [at] lehigh [dot] edu
	Austin Russell, Ph.D. candidate. Austin joined the lab in 2020. Before joining the lab, he completed his undergraduate degree at the College of Wooster in Ohio. Postgrad, he worked for the Wilds, a conservation research station for the Columbus Zoo, where he used eDNA to study hellbenders, and then worked for the Massachusetts Audobon Society, studying endangered shorebirds. He is currently interested in host-microbiome interactions and determining what traits have the most strength in shaping avian gut microbiomes and their hybrids. Additionally, he has combined this research with cognitive testing in the lab to take a multidisciplinary approach to animal behavior and host microbiomes. Contact Austin at: aar420 [at] lehigh [dot] edu

Undergraduate Students

Omar Mendez

Ray Kennedy

Lab Alumni

Former Graduate Students

Dr. Joan Spinelli ’24 (PhD-Biology, Evolution & Behavior concentration)

Noel Martinez ’24 (MS-Biological Sciences)

Dr. Alex Van Huynh ’20 (PhD-Biology, Evolution & Behavior concentration), now an Assistant Professor at DeSales University.

Dr. Michael McQuillan ’18 (PhD-Integrative Biology), now a Research Associate in the lab of Dr. Sarah Tishkoff at the University of Pennsylvania

Chandler Navara ’13 (BS-Earth and Environmental Sciences) ’15 (MS-Earth and Environmental Sciences), Master’s student (co-advised by Amber and Robert Booth) 2013-2015, now a veterinarian

Former Undergraduate Students

Imani Ashman ’24 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2022-2024

Nalan Aydin ’24 (BS-Behavioral Neuroscience), undergraduate researcher 2022-2024

Aubrey Beck, undergraduate researcher 2019-2020

Jessie Brill ’18 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2016-2018

Brenda Bukowiecki ’15 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2015

Sophia Dent ’13 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2012-2013

Brooke Dubyna, undergraduate researcher 2019-2020

Thomas Fox ’14 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2013-2014

Michellee Garcia, 2019 REU student from Franklin & Marshall College

Sophia Goldin, undergraduate researcher 2020

Gabrielle Gracias, undergraduate researcher 2018-2020

Alexa Guitmann, undergraduate researcher 2018-2019

Rowan Heffernan, 2019 RARE summer student

Ryan Herbert ’16 (BS-Earth and Environmental Sciences), undergraduate researcher and Presidential Scholar 2016-2017

Rebecca Jones ’18 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2017-2018

Ian Kelleher ’15 (BS-IDEAS), undergraduate researcher 2013-2015

Rachel Kulakofsky, undergraduate researcher 2018-2020

Elly Labay, undergraduate researcher 2020-2022

Hannah Lord, undergraduate researcher 2022-2023

Yueqi (Maggie) Lu, undergraduate researcher 2021-2022

Elena Martin ’16 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2015-2016

Adam Mazarul, undergraduate researcher 2022

Olivia Mobarakai ’17 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2016-2017

Sean Nelson ’16 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2014-2016

Sabrina Noel Jeune, 2019 RARE summer student

Jennifer Ocampo-Castaneda, 2021 RARE summer student

Caroline Palmer ’23 (BA-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2021-2023

Ali Quadrozzi, undergraduate researcher 2020-2021

Jade Radigan ’16 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2016

Andrew Ridings, undergraduate researcher 2018-2020

Sana Sheikh, undergraduate researcher 2021-2022

Rebecca Silverman ’14 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2012-2014

Joseph Skibbens ’17 (BA-Biology and International Relations), undergraduate researcher 2015-2017

Claudia Small, undergraduate researcher 2021-2022

Sarah Tsuruo (transferred to another university), undergraduate researcher 2018

Joanna Warren ’15 (BA-Biology and International Relations), undergraduate researcher 2012-2015

Kathryn Wexler ’18 (BS-Biology), undergraduate researcher 2017-2018.

Rozhin Zahrouni, undergraduate researcher 2021-2022

Giovanni Zlaket ’19 (BS-Behavioral Neuroscience), undergraduate researcher 2017-2019