Congratulations to Dr. Ko-Hsuan Chen for obtaining an Assistant Research Fellow position at the Biodiversity Research Center of Academia Sinica in Taiwan. Ko-Hsuan completed her Ph.D. in the Lutzoni lab in 2017 focussing on fungal endophytes in the Class Eurotiomycetes and her pioneering metatranscriptomic study of fungal endophytes in the model moss system Dicranum scoparium. You can find more information about her current research in her newly established lab at this website.
Author: Ian Medeiros
2020-9: “How to Land a Lab” Workshop (This Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 5 and 6 at 1:00pm)
Dr. François Lutzoni will be hosting undergraduate research workshops for students interested in joining research labs at Duke. This workshop will cover: finding a lab, what to look for in a lab, how to approach a principal investigator, and navigating through interviews. These are two identical workshops offered at different times.
Register at: https://undergraduateresearch.duke.edu/land-a-lab-workshop
2020-08: Welcome Shannon Skarha – New Ph.D. Student in the Lutzoni lab
We are excited to welcome Shannon Skarha to the Lutzoni lab as a first-year Ph.D. student in the Duke Biology department. Shannon previously worked at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where she was a lab specialist in the conservation genetics program.
2019-11: Lutzoni Lab hosts lichen workshop for North Carolina School of Math and Science students
The Lutzoni lab (Dr. Scott LaGreca, Dr. François Lutzoni, Ian Medeiros, and Carlos Pardo De la Hoz) hosted a two-day lichen workshop for 15 junior and senior high school students from the North Carolina School of Science and Math (NCSSM) in Durham. On the first day, students learned the different lichen growth forms and basic morphological structures within a teaching lab setting, and then went on a field trip to the Eno River State Park to look at lichens. The trip was a great opportunity to highlight the ecological characteristics of different groups of lichens. On the second day, we taught how to use a dichotomous key, and together we identified three lichen specimens at the species level. Many of the students had the opportunity to collect their own specimens on the school campus and we helped them identify them as well. We were thoroughly impressed with their abilities and pleased to learn that the workshop inspired them to pursue three research projects centered on lichens at NCSSM. We thank Dr. Erin Quinlan at NCSSM for her support in organizing this workshop. We look forward to continued interaction with NCSSM students and faculty in the future. This outreach activity was funded in part by the National Science Foundation grants DEB 1541548 and 1929994 to François Lutzoni and Jolanta Miadlikowska.
2019-01: Lutzoni Lab welcomes Edyta Mazur, visiting student from Poland
Edyta will spend the spring semester in the Lutzoni Lab to learn methods in molecular systematics for her Ph.D. research on Lecanora.
2018-12: Lutzoni Lab leads lichen walk with Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association
Scott LaGreca and Ian Medeiros provided a two-hour introduction to the biology and biodiversity of lichens on a Saturday morning walk at ECWA’s Glennstone preserve. Twenty people from the Durham area attended the event, and based on their enthusiasm we suspect that none of them will ever again go for a hike without noticing the lichens.
2018-11: Lutzoni Lab participates in NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Darwin Day outreach event
Members of the Lutzoni Lab spent the day teaching kids and adults about symbiosis and lichens. Visitors to the museum got a chance to look at lichens under the microscope, see a lichen fluoresce under UV light, and watch as a desiccated lichen thallus was rehydrated. Jigsaw puzzles of Xanthoria and Peltigera entertained younger visitors and gave us visual aids for discussing lichen structure and reproduction. Special thanks to Scott LaGreca for organizing the Lutzoni Lab’s participation in this fun and educational event.
2018-09: Welcome Will White – New Undergraduate Student in the Lutzoni Lab
We’re excited to welcome Duke third-year Will White to the Lutzoni Lab as an undergraduate research assistant. He will be working on a variety of projects under the daily supervision of Ian Medeiros and Carlos Pardo De la Hoz.
2018-08: Welcome Carlos Pardo De la Hoz – New Ph.D. Student in the Lutzoni lab
Carlos graduated from Universidad de Los Andes (Uniandes, Bogotá, Colombia) in Microbiology. Carlos comes to Duke University with already several graduate courses under his belt, and an award for best student poster that he received at the 11th International Mycological Congress. We are delighted to have him join the Lutzoni Lab.
2018-07: Congratulations Carlos Pardo De la Hoz – recipient of the best student poster award at IMC11
Carlos received the Best Poster award in the Evolution section of the International Mycological Congress (IMC11). This is an extraordinary achievement because Carlos did this work as an undergraduate student in the Lutzoni lab. He was competing with graduate students for this award. The title of his poster was “Using a phylogenetic framework to assess the role of symbiotic specificity in shaping evolutionary and spatial patterns of associations in trimembered lichens.” Carlos will start his Ph.D. in August 2018 in the Lutzoni lab.