Undergraduate Students

Angela Holuba
Barnard College
(2008)

Angela Holuba
During May-July 2008, Angela Holuba took part in an investigation of the phylogeny of the scorpion family Buthidae. Holuba, supervised by doctoral student Lauren Esposito and Associate Curator Lorenzo Prendini, worked on the molecular component of the investigation. During this time she learned to extract, isolate, amplify, sequence, and edit DNA. Holuba additionally learned techniques for phylogenetic analysis.







Sylvia Johnson
Barnard College
(Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, 2008)

From May to August 2008, Sylvia Johnson worked on a project investigating the phylogeny and evolutionary relationships of the scorpion family Diplocentridae. Over the course of the summer, Johnson learned to extract DNA, amplify and sequence genes from samples collected throughout southern North America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. She also learned to edit and phylogenetically analyze the data she collected. Johnson's research was supervised by doctoral student Lauren Esposito and Associate Curator Lorenzo Prendini.


Sylvia Johnson


Gena Esposito
University of Texas at Austin
(NSF RevSys Grant, 2007)
Gena Esposito
In June and July, 2007, Gena Esposito took part in an investigation of the phylogeny of the scorpion family Buthidae using molecular data. Esposito used samples collected from all over the world to sequence molecular data from six different loci. She learned how to extract, isolate, amplify, sequence, and edit DNA. She also learned to clone DNA fragments using bacterial vectors. Esposito’s research was supervised by Associate Curator Lorenzo Prendini and her sister, doctoral student Lauren Esposito.


Sarah Schoenbrun
Brown University
(NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Internship, 2007)

During June–August 2007, Sarah Schoenbrun studied the only North American scorpion genus of medical importance, Centruroides, and analyzed molecular data from previously unidentified specimens to clarify their phylogenetic placement within the genus. Working under the supervision of doctoral student Lauren Esposito and Associate Curator Lorenzo Prendini, Schoenbrun further investigated the relationship between venom genes of Centruroides and other medically important scorpions by using cloning techniques to sequence a scorpion α-toxin multi-gene family, ultimately examining these evolutionary relationships within the known framework of scorpion phylogeny.
Sarah Shoenbrun


Steve Webb
Muhlenberg College
(NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Internship, 2005)

Steve Webb
During June–August 2005, Steve Webb studied the phylogenetic placement and monophyly of the buthoid scorpion family Microcharmidae, using both morphological and molecular data. Webb’s research project was supervised by AMNH Postdoctoral Fellows Erich Volschenk and Camilo Mattoni, and Associate Curator Prendini. During his internship, Webb learned to isolate, amplify, sequence, and edit scorpion DNA, to examine and score morphological character data, and to analyse both sources of data phylogenetically in a total evidence framework.


Kanvaly B. Bamba
Yale University
(NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Internship, 2004)


Michelle McCoy
North Carolina University
(NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Internship, 2004)

Kanvaly Bamba & Michelle McCoy
During June–August 2004, Kanvaly Bamba and Michelle McCoy worked together, under the supervision of Lorenzo Prendini, Scientific Assistant Randy Mercurio, and Laboratory Assistants Tarang Sharma and Rebecca Budinoff, to produce the first phylogeny for the Gondwana scorpion family Liochelidae, based on a simultaneous analysis six gene loci and morphology. Both students learned to photograph scorpions under visible and UV light, to measure scorpions and record trichobothrial counts, to isolate, amplify, sequence, and edit DNA, and to analyse morphological and molecular data phylogenetically. They subsequently traveled to southern California for two weeks to collect scorpions with Randy Mercurio and California Academy of Sciences Field Associate, Warren Savary, a trip supported by the Richard Lounsbery Foundation.


Samara Maaliki
City University of New York
(Joint NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Internship and Undergraduate Mentoring in Evolutionary Biology Internship, 2003)

Samara Maaliki
During June–August 2003, Samara Maaliki studied the morphology of the monotypic central Asian scorpion family Pseudochactidae and investigated its phylogenetic position in Scorpiones with morphological and molecular data, under the supervision of Lorenzo Prendini, Scientific Assistant Randy Mercurio, and former Laboratory Assistants Kelly DeMeo and Tarang Sharma. Maaliki learned to measure scorpions and photograph them under visible and UV light, to isolate, amplify, sequence, and edit DNA, and to analyse morphological and molecular data phylogenetically.


Lauren A. Esposito
University of Texas, El Paso
(NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Internship, 2002)

During June–August 2002, Lauren Esposito reinvestigated the phylogeny of the medically important African buthid scorpion genus Parabuthus from a combined molecular and morphological perspective, under the supervision of Lorenzo Prendini, and assisted by Kelly DeMeo and Anne Keller. Esposito learned to identify Parabuthus species using morphological characters by sorting the AMNH holdings of Parabuthus. She also learned to isolate, amplify, sequence, and edit DNA, and to analyse morphological and molecular data phylogenetically.

 Lauren Esposito