Current Members of the Rick Lab
Jessi Rick, phD
Assistant professor of Wildlife Conservation & Management, School of Natural Resources & the Environment; Faculty Member of the Genetics GIDP and Bio5 Institute
Jessi grew up in Minnesota, went to the University of Arizona for her undergraduate degree, received her master’s working with Jared Strasburg and Ron Moen at the University of Minnesota - Duluth in the Integrated Biosciences Program, and earned her Ph.D. in the Wagner Lab in the University of Wyoming’s Program in Ecology & Evolution. She then was mentored by Nina Overgaard Therkildsen as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University. She is now an Assistant Professor in the Wildlife Conservation and Management program in the University of Arizona’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment. When she’s not doing science, she spends her time hiking, trail running, playing ultimate frisbee, mountain biking, and generally enjoying the outdoors with her dogs and family.
CV | GitHub | Google Scholar | Email
Beth Hasl
MS student, Genetics GIDP; Co-advised with Javan Bauder
Beth grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and received her BS in Biology from Northern Arizona University. She is pursuing her master’s in the Genetics GIDP program, and her thesis research focuses on the genetic diversity, population connectivity, and landscape genomics of lowland leopard frogs in the Tucson area.
Adam Ziegler
PhD student, Genetics GIDP
Adam was born and raised in New Jersey before moving to Massachusetts to obtain bachelor’s degrees in biology and environmental studies at Stonehill College. He received his master’s degree working with Erik Sotka at the College of Charleston studying the population genetics of Diopatra cuprea. For his PhD, he is studying the influence of chromosomal inversions on genetic and phenotypic variation within and across Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia) populations. On the off chance he is not in the lab or working on code, he enjoys fly fishing in the Arizona lakes, cultivating his herb garden, or learning new recipes.
Caleb Milford
MS Student, Natural Resources - Wildlife Conservation and Management; Co-advised with Dr. Javan Bauder
Oliver Fahrner
MS Student, Natural Resources - Wildlife Conservation and Management
Oliver was born and raised in San José, California, and earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara. After graduating, Oliver spent two years working in native habitat restoration at UCSB’s Cheadle Center, helping to create and monitor habitat for rare, threatened, and endangered species. He then served in the Peace Corps as a Youth Development Volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 2022-2024. Oliver receives funding from the Peace Corps Coverdell Fellowship at the University of Arizona, and is partnering with the non-profit Sky Island Alliance through his Fellowship. He is studying the genetics of Desert sucker (Catostomus clarkii) and Sonora sucker (Catostomus insignis) populations from various streams across Arizona. This research examines potential hybridization, genetic divergence, and genetic diversity of sampled populations, to help inform management decisions for their conservation. In his free time, Oliver enjoys exploring the outdoors, most often while hiking, skiing, camping, or climbing.
Adina Nadeem Zuberi
Undergraduate, BS Natural Resources - Wildlife
Adina grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, before attending the University of Arizona to pursue a degree in Natural Resources with an emphasis in Wildlife Conservation & Management. They are currently in their junior year and are also pursuing a Japanese Language Minor. Adina is interested in learning about wildlife physiology, disease ecology, and population dynamics. They have also been involved with Arizona’s Science, Engineering, and Math Scholars (ASEMS) program. In their free time, Adina enjoys reading, photography, playing video games, and watching shows.
Maddie Reel
Undergraduate, BS Natural Resources - Wildlife
Maddie grew up in Colorado before moving to Tucson to pursue her Undergraduate degree in Natural Resources with an emphasis in Wildlife Conservation & Management from the University of Arizona. She is also pursuing a minor in Communications, as well as working on certificates in International Environmental Conservation and Zoo & Aquarium Conservation. She is interested in learning more about sampling and analyzing genetic data, and how that information can help us to inform the public, change policies, and create conservation plans. In her free time, Maddie enjoys hiking, camping, live music, and collecting comic books.
Kamryn Ley
Undergraduate, BS Bioinformatics
Kamryn grew up in Tucson and is pursuing a Bioinformatics degree with minors in Biology, ISTA (Information Science, Technology & Arts), and Applied Biotechnology. She is interested in learning genomic wet lab techniques and analyzing genomic data as a way of more generally understanding the role of genomics in wildlife conservation. Outside of school, Kamryn enjoys going to concerts, listening to music, playing tennis, baking, and volunteering at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona.
Lab Alumni
Undergraduates
Lauren Dolan
Undergraduate, BS Biology (Graduated May 2024)
Erin Hess
Undergraduate, BS Natural Resources - Wildlife (Graduated May 2024)
Greta Gurdikian
Undergraduate, BS Molecular and Cellular Biology (Graduated May 2025)
Zach Leitzke
Undergraduate, BS Natural Resources - Wildlife
Postdocs
Lanie Galland, Phd
Postdoctoral researcher (October 2023-September 2024) — current position: Fisheries Geneticist, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission