Stauffer Lab Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Statement: The Stauffer Lab seeks to create space and opportunities for all who have an interest in the sciences. As a feminist lab, we strive to ensure that scientists from all gender identities and sexualities are welcome and feel supported. As an anti-racist lab, we work to continually educate ourselves in the ways in which the history of science, and its present, are based in systemic racism and colonialism. We actively work to deconstruct such systems in our department, discipline, and university. We strive to have an inclusive lab set here in south Louisiana. We foster a spirit of collaboration and cooperation amongst lab members and with partners beyond our research group. We value all people who come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, bring with them different abilities, and who can and should be equal contributors to the broader scientific endeavor.
Dr. Beth Stauffer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology, the SLEMCO/BORSF Endowed Professor in General Studies, and a Distinguished Professor at UL Lafayette. Dr. Stauffer's research has generated over $27 million in extramural funding and she has been recognized with awards at UL Lafayette for her research productivity and mentoring of graduate students. She was previously an Early Career Research Fellow with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program and Member-at-Large on the Association for the Sciences of Limnology & Oceanography (ASLO) Board. Dr. Stauffer is committed to removing barriers to equity in her lab, institution, and community. She worked with LUMCON leadership to strengthen their sexual harassment policy, hosted a Minorities in Aquaculture intern, served on the Aspire IChange Team to help “advance the diversity and inclusion of STEM faculty” at UL Lafayette, and was on the Department of Biology Inclusion and Diversity Committee, among many other activities.
For more information, please see Dr. Stauffer's CV or Google Scholar profile.
Ph.D., Marine Environmental Biology, University of Southern California, 2011
B.S., Marine Science & Biology, University of Miami, 2000
For more information, please see Dr. Stauffer's CV or Google Scholar profile.
Ph.D., Marine Environmental Biology, University of Southern California, 2011
B.S., Marine Science & Biology, University of Miami, 2000
Visiting Faculty & Postdocs
Dr. Lindsey Schwartz is a postdoctoral scientist co-mentored with Dr. Louis Plough at USDA. She earned a B.S. in Biology from Muhlenberg College, and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of South Carolina. Lindsey’s dissertation work focused on the impacts of chronic thermal stress on a group of marine mussels using a variety of genomic, biochemical, and physiological approaches. She will be involved in the genomic selection of broodstock and the analysis of high throughput genomics data as part of the LO-SPAT project.
Graduate Students
Jennifer Raabe is a Ph.D. student working on the LO-SPAT project and former Stauffer Lab Research Associate. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Southern Mississippi and her M.Sc. in Biology from the University of North Florida . Jen's Master's research focused on the vertical distribution of marine invertebrate larvae, and potential spatial competition between native and non-native bivalves, in a well-mixed estuary, and she'll be returning to her bivalve roots (w/ some phytoplankton in the mix!) in her Ph.D. Jen works with the Lafayette Organized Graduate Students (Lafayette OGS), serves as Vice President of the Biology Graduate Student Association (BGSA), and is a member of the Department of Biology Inclusion and Diversity Committee.
Emily Mulcahy is a M.Sc. student in the lab. She recently earned her B.Sc. in Biology - Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at Virginia Tech. Her previous undergraduate research focused on whole ecosystem metabolism of forested wetlands, but her interests in marine ecosystems led her to UL at Lafayette. She is now in the Stauffer Lab exploring how food web dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico may alter due to global warming, with a specific focus on phytoplankton populations. She will be joining other researchers on a research cruise in the summer of 2025. When Em's not in the lab, she likes to explore local parks and go on hikes.
Panchali Hazarika is a Ph.D. student in the lab. She earned an undergraduate degree in Biotechnology from Cotton University and a M.Sc. degree in Life Sciences from Mount Carmel College, both in India. Panchali's research interests focus on understanding how environmental variables influence phytoplankton assemblages in marine and freshwater ecosystems and how these shifts can alter functional traits at the taxon level and subsequently, affect the predator–prey interactions within aquatic food webs.
Lab Staff
James Hammett is the LO-SPAT Broodstock Facility Manager. He has over 15 years of hands-on experience engineering and maintaining coral reef ecosystems, and in his role with LO-SPAT he builds and maintains the multiple Recirculating Aquatic Systems (RASs) at the UL Ecology Center, operates the watercrafts, and manages the overall operations of the broodstock facility. An educator since 2007, James' areas of expertise are in RAS engineering and maintenance, organizing educational experiences for students of all ages and in life and social sciences. In his spare time, James farms quail, chickens, and produce and is a commercial fisherman. Born and raised in Louisiana waters, he and his wife of 27 years, Amy, raised their four sons on a farm in Kansas before returning home to Louisiana in 2024.
Maya Lombardi is a Research Associate and Lab Manager in the Stauffer Lab. She received her B.S. in Marine Science at University of Connecticut, Avery Point campus and her M.O. in Coastal Ecology at University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography. She will be leading algal cultivation for experiments on the LO-SPAT Project and is more broadly interested in learning more about how climate change is affecting the relationship between coral reefs and their symbiotic dinoflagellates.
Alexander Miele is a Research Associate in the Stauffer Lab. He was a Tennessee Vol for his BS at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and became a Hokie at Virginia Tech for his MS in Geography. As part of the lab, he leads data collection and management on the LO-SPAT and MBSD projects and is more broadly interested in community water development and security, and ecosystem services and biodiversity maintenance in mountains. He worked with Dr. Sibel Bargu at LSU on algal blooms in Lake Pontchartrain before joining the Stauffer Lab, and in his free time likes to enjoy the unique culture of Louisiana. In a past life he was a giant salamander hunting the fast-flowing clear mountain rivers of southern Appalachia or Japan!
Ann Fairly Pandelides is the LO-SPAT Project Manager. She received her Master’s in Environmental Toxicology in 2019 from the University of Mississippi and has a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Southern Mississippi. Her prior research focused on how climate change-related stressors affect the health and survival of oysters at varying life history stages, both in the lab and the field. She is excited about the LO-SPAT research collaborations and is interested in applying research to solutions, specifically when it comes to a sustainable oyster industry.
Tessa Rock is a former M.Sc. student who has remained in the lab to continue serving as the Queen of the FlowCam! She completed her B.S in Marine Science at the University of New England in Maine in May 2022. At UNE she conducted research in two labs working on phytoplankton identification and crustacean physiology. In her free time, you can find her playing the piano and belting show tunes, painting, and taking care of her two frogs.
Undergraduate Researchers
Joshua Vu is a Biology major at UL Lafayette. He loves animals and also science, so what better place for Joshua than in the biology lab?!?!
Ben Brown is a Biology major at UL Lafayette.
Past Lab Members
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Past Graduate Researchers
Jaylyn Babitch (M.Sc.), 2016-2018. Currently Biologist with City of San Jose Mrunmayee Pathare (M.Sc.), 2016-2019. Currently Research Assistant III, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Christin Selle (M.Sc., co-advised with Dr. Kelly Robinson), 2017-2020. Currently Histotechnologist, Elephas. Andrea Jaegge (Ph.D.), 2016-2022. Currently postdoctoral researcher at USGS California Water Science Center. Hans Prevost (M.Sc.), 2019-2022. Currently Biological Scientist II, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve Gulce Kurtay (Ph.D.), 2018-2023. Currently postdoctoral researcher at University of Washington. Julia Sweet (Ph.D.), 2020-2024. See below. Former Visiting Faculty & Postdocs Dr. Nigel D'Souza, Visiting Assistant Professor 2021-2022. Currently Assistant Professor, Depts. of Environmental Studies & Sciences and Biology, Gonzaga University! Dr. Julia Sweet, Postdoc 2024-2025, Ph.D. student 2020-2024. Currently Postdoctoral Researcher at Savannah River National Lab! Former Lab Staff Emily Piwowarski, 2024-2025 Shelby Perry, 2023-2024 Alexander Douwes, 2024 Jennifer Raabe, 2019-2021 |
Past Undergraduate Researchers (UL Lafayette)
Alexander Adams Lauren Broussard Quinnetta Humphries Amber Lauchner, completed M.Sc., Plymouth State University April Pruitt, currently Ph.D. Student in Neuroscience, Yale University Gina Woods, currently Research Assistant, LUMCON Dalton Laroux Hans Prevost Teri Lynn (Lewis) Bernard Eric Austin Alaina Hebert Vivian Mire, currently medical student at LSU Health Sciences Campus Bryce Lavergne, currently M.Sc. student, UL Lafayette Jeanne Smith, currently Lagniappe student, LSU Natalie Graham, currently C-Comp scholar, WHOI Beau Philips, headed to medical school! Hannah Boudreaux Past REU Students Tallie Foster, Fitchburg State University Rachel Humes, Indiana University Northwest Eliot Pell, Ball State University Claire Brovold, Adrian College, currently M.Sc. Student, UL Lafayette School of Geosciences Collin Hebner, Texas A&M University |