BRZESKILAB.COM - Key Persons


Claudia Zinser

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student in CFRES. Spring 2019 - Current
​Claudia is an undergraduate Wildlife Ecology and Management and has been working in the Brzeski Lab since her freshman year. Claudia was awarded a SURF fellowship to study Blue Jay flock relatedness in Summer 2021.

Jenna Brewer

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student in CFRES. Fall 2021 - Current
​Jenna is an undergraduate Wildlife Ecology and Conservation student using isotopic analysis and DNA metabarcoding to evaluate dietary breadth in Northern cardinals.

Kath Schneider

Job Titles:
  • Forest Science PhD Student in CFRES. Spring 2021 - Present
​Kath is a PhD student using iDNA to assess beetle diet and she is also working to bridge knowledge systems in beetle research, using Traditional Ecological Knowledge, historic, and current invertebrate policies.

Kristin E. Brzeski

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor
  • Principle Investigator
Kristin is a wildlife biologist interested in research at the intersection of applied conservation and evolutionary theory. Her work utilizes a wide range of tools including genomic sequencing, epigenetic sequencing, camera traps, and a multitude of field based techniques. Kristin's past research has focused on wild canid genetics and she remains a contributor to the Canine Ancestry Project and director of the Gulf Coast Canine Project. Kristin integrates her research into teaching during her Mammalogy and Conservation Genetic courses at MTU.

Rachel Christensen

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student in CFRES, Spring 2019 - Spring 2020
​Rachel graduated with a degree in Wildlife Ecology and Management in spring 2020 and conducted her senior project in the Brzeski Lab. She evaluated the prevalence of avian malaria in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula.

Sam Hervey

Job Titles:
  • Forest Science PhD Student in CFRES. Spring 2020 - Current
​Sam is a PhD student in the Brzeski lab studying the newly introduced Isle Royale gray wolves. He is developing noninvasive molecular tools to monitor genetic variation of the Isle Royale wolf population and evaluating the genomic composition of the new Isle Royale wolf founders.

Silvestre Esteban

Job Titles:
  • International Student Mentees

Tiffany DeGroot

Job Titles:
  • Forest Science PhD Student in CFRES. Spring 2019 - Current