KRONFORST LAB - Key Persons


Annika Munson

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student
Annika is studying how climate change impacts interactions between butterflies and their host-plants.

Claire Fu

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student
Claire is studying the evolution and development of supergene mimicry in swallowtail butterflies.

Darli Massardo

Job Titles:
  • Lab Manager
Darli is the lab manager and a research scientist with areas of expertise that include genomics and genome editing.

Hsiang-Yu Tsai

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Student
Hsiang-Yu is a Ph.D. student in the Ecology & Evolution graduate program. Hsiang-Yu is studying the environmental and molecular determinants of monarch butterfly migration behavior.

Lillian McHugh

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student

Marcus Kronforst

Job Titles:
  • Department of Ecology & Evolution / University of Chicago
  • Professor
Marcus is a Professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolution and the lab PI. His research focuses on the genetics and evolution of mimicry and speciation in butterflies. He and the members of his lab apply a combination of molecular and population genetics, genomics, functional genetics, genome editing and behavioral studies to address questions regarding the evolutionary history and mechanistic basis of adaptation and speciation.

Nicholas W. VanKuren

Job Titles:
  • Associate

Paula Fernandez-Begne


Sofia Sheikh

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Student
Sofia is a Ph.D. student in the Ecology & Evolution graduate program. She is studying the evolution and development of supergene mimicry in swallowtail butterflies.

Timothy O'Connor

Job Titles:
  • NIH NRSA Post - Doctoral Fellow
  • Postdoctoral Associate
Tim is an NIH NRSA Post-doctoral fellow studying interactions between pierid butterflies and their Brassicaceae host-plants.

Wei Lu

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Student
Wei is a Ph.D. student in the Ecology & Evolution graduate program. Wei's research focuses on the evolution and genetics of mating behavior in Heliconius butterflies.