YODER LAB - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Braxton Craven Professor of Evolutionary Biology / Department of Biology & BAA / Duke University
- Department of Biology / Duke University
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Research Associate
Job Titles:
- Braxton Craven Professor of Evolutionary Biology / Department of Biology & BAA / Duke University
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Post Doctoral Researcher
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Graduate Student
- Graduate Student / Biology Department
Desireé is interested in topics concerning wildlife conservation with a focus on studying anthropogenic effects on wildlife and their environment, and how to better human-wildlife interactions surrounding conflicts. She wants to better understand and help implement community-driven conservation solutions where humans and wild animals can coexist. Desireé has a Bachelor of Science from North Carolina State University in Zoology with minors in Statistics and a second minor in Leadership in Agriculture and Life Sciences. She served as a veterinarian assistant before earning her Master's at New York University in Animal Studies.
Hobbies: Crocheting, Playing Violin, and Ice-cream Taster
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Graduate Student
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Graduate Student
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Undergraduate Student
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Research Affiliate )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Undergraduate Student
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Research Affiliate )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Post Doctoral Researcher
- Post Doctoral Researcher / Biology Department
Sam has dedicated the past decade to research and conservation in Madagascar and spent the previous eight years in the southeast (Anosy region). Despite varied research and taxonomic interests (amphibians, bats, birds, lemurs and palms), Sam has been drawn in to the dark and difficult world of mouse lemur research in recent times.
After completing his PhD at Oxford Brookes, detailing the behavioural ecology, social organisation and biogeography of Microcebus tanosi, Sam's experience studying these small nocturnal primates in the wild has led him to Duke where he is now an NSF postdoc. His current work aims to better understand the genetic, ecological and morphological barriers that develop between diverged lineages and form the basis of reproductive isolation, thus shaping evolutionary trajectories. Using sympatric mouse lemur species in Andohahela National Park as a model system, Sam aims to determine how and why these closely related species maintain lineage distinctiveness. Strap yourselves in!
As a counterpoint to the rest of the Yoder Lab, he is a confirmed cat fanatic and seemingly cannot pass a cat anywhere in the world without attempting to communicate…
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Undergraduate Student
Job Titles:
- Member of the Lab
- Graduate Student
- Graduate Student / Biology Department
Tristan is passionate about lemur ecology and understanding how anthropogenic pressures and habitat changes will affect the conservation of lemur populations. Tristan completed his BScH from Queen's University in 2018 and his MSc from the University of Toronto in 2021. During his undergraduate, he worked in biology labs ranging from bioinformatics to flu transmission in swine barns to polar bear population genetics. His Master's work with Dr. Shawn Lehman focused on the widespread use of anthropogenic fires in Madagascar, and the threat that they pose to remaining forests. For his PhD research, Tristan is studying the changes in abundance of different lemur species and their food resources following forest fires. His goal is to determine if dietary niches can help us predict which species are most vulnerable to fires in their habitat. Tristan has completed two field seasons in Ankarafantsika National Park and plans to return in 2025 to continue his data collection.
Hobbies: Playing hockey, guitar, board games