Emily K. Meineke Assistant Professor of Urban Landscape Entomology UC Davis Dept. of Entomology & Nematology ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu Office: 458 Hutchison Hall
Mia Lippey USDA Fellow, Entomology Graduate Group
Mia was born in Japan and grew up near Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated from UC Davis with a B.S. in Entomology and is continuing her studies at Davis in the Meineke and Rosenheim labs. Her research interests are broad, but for her graduate studies, she is exploring the interaction between insects and plants in agricultural and urban environments, and the role that climate has on these changing interactions. Her hobbies include running, backpacking, and visual arts. Her ultimate life goals are to own too many dogs and thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail.
Grace Horne NSF GRFP Fellow, Entomology Graduate Group
Grace is a New Englander through and through. She grew up in New Hampshire before attending Colby College in Maine. At Colby, she earned a B.A. in biology and environmental science. Grace’s thesis work involves using natural history collections housed in private and public repositories to investigate the influence of global change on plants and insects.
In her free time, Grace enjoys making/consuming appetizers, spending time outdoors, learning and sharing cool insect facts, and caring for her several houseplants.
Alison Wong Undergraduate scientist
Alison grew up in Malaysia and is a 2nd-year undergraduate student majoring in Statistics and Biology at UC Davis. Her research interest involves exploring how climate change and the growing urban environments affect species interactions and ecological communities. In her free time, she likes thrifting with friends, traveling, trying new cuisines, and exploring the various hiking trails around Davis.
Zoe Wood NSF GRFP Fellow, Ecology Graduate Group
Zoe is originally from Mount Kisco, New York. Zoe graduated from Bowdoin College in 2018 with a major in Biology and minor in Latin American Studies, and has since explored a range of interests through ecological fieldwork, place-based education, visual art, and long-distance hiking.
As a PhD student in the Graduate Group of Ecology with the Meineke, Yang, and Karban labs, Zoe is excited to incorporate biological collections and community science data to investigate temporal shifts in plant-insect interactions and life history events.
Marielle Hansel Friedman USDA Fellow, Entomology Graduate Group
Marielle grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Oregon and lived in Portland, Oregon for a few years before deciding to return to the Bay Area. As a Ph.D. student in the Meineke lab, she is interested in exploring the role of urbanization in herbivory of non-native plants within the context of our changing climate. Marielle loves cooking for her friends and family, hiking with her dog and partner, creating insect inspired jewelry, playing guitar/piano, and gardening with her cat.
Mickie Tang NSF GRFP Fellow, Ecology Graduate Group
Mickie is originally from Sacramento, CA and joined the Graduate Group in Ecology in 2020. Before coming to UC Davis, she earned a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from UC Santa Cruz in 2013. As part of the Meineke and Gilbert labs, Mickie is studying how urban plants are responding to heat, and she is excited to use her hometown as a field site for her research. Her other interests include eating good food, camping, and photography.
Elizeth Cinto Mejía Postdoctoral Scholar
Elizeth is investigating tree growth patterns in relation to urban islands and water availability in Sacramento, New Orleans and Raleigh. Elizeth completed her bachelor's degree in biology from Universidad de Navarra, MS in biology from Boise State University, and doctoral degree in Entomology from Michigan State University. Her past research includes bird, plant, and insect ecology. Through her career she has done extensive outreach and education work in Idaho and Michigan mostly working with K-12 classrooms. In her free time she loves spending time outdoors, reading, traveling, and watching telenovelas.
Lauren Azevedo-Schmidt Postdoctoral Scholar
Lauren is originally from Chico, CA but has spent most of her adult life in Colorado and Wyoming. Her past research integrates across temporal scales, creating comparable datasets of plant-insect interactions within fossil and modern ecosystems. At UC Davis she is working to understand the impact of modern global climate change on plant-insect interactions. When not doing research, Lauren is usually on a bike. You may see her commuting between Davis and Sacramento, on gravel rides, or quickly maneuvering down local mountain biking trails. She also likes to cook, listen to music, and spend time with family.