People

Najiyah is a senior at SUNY Oswego pursuing her degree in Biology with minors in Psychology and Health Science. Her interests lie in marine science, disease ecology, conservation, and One Health. After a research internship at the Mystic Aquarium, she became interested in aquatic animal health as well. She is currently investigating the detection probability of ranavirus in amphibians using PCR and qPCR techniques. 

Collin is a Junior at SUNY Oswego majoring in Zoology with minors in Statistics and Chemistry. He is interested in ecology and conservation, specifically in and around the Chesapeake Bay watershed where he grew up. His project works to use genetics to differentiate two species of larval fish in Lake Ontario: Cisco and Lake Whitefish.

Grace is a graduating senior at SUNY Oswego who is tracking the prevalence of Ranavirus in local amphibian populations. She is interested in human biology and immunology and plans on getting a PhD in cellular biology once she graduates. She hopes to someday teach biology classes at college and possibly research genetic diseases. Grace likes science, Star Wars, and posing for album covers with Lucy, her favorite parrot in the world. 

Emilie is a Senior at SUNY Oswego graduating this December with a degree in Biology. Her interests lie in conservation biology, aquatic ecology and fisheries science and management. She is currently working on research involving Sea Lamprey detection through environmental DNA collection in Oneida Lake tributaries as well as sex identification of Atlantic Sturgeon through molecular genetics. She enjoys hunting and fishing, spending time outdoors with her family, and going on adventures.

Ryan is a senior at SUNY Oswego majoring in Zoology and minoring in Chemistry. He is interested in aquatics, genetics, evolutionary biology, and conservation. He is working on a project to compare the effectiveness of different PCR protocols for identifying Cisco and Lake Whitefish and will also be developing primers to sequence the regions of DNA where the primers bind in the current protocols.

Joseph Sweeney 

Joe is a junior zoology major at SUNY Oswego with a minor in chemistry. He got introduced to the Sard Lab by interning with the USGS over the summer of 2023. He is continuing this work, focusing on coreginine larval genotyping. Joe has interests in ecology, evolution, paleontology, and bioinformatics and plans on going to graduate school to obtain a PhD.

Joy Zientara

Joy is a senior at SUNY Oswego majoring in Zoology. Her main interests are veterinary medicine, disease ecology, and conservation. She began doing fieldwork for the amphibian disease project in the Fall of 2022.

Anica Sampson

Anica is a senior at SUNY Oswego studying Biology with interests in marine science, conservation, education, and animal care. She has completed multiple zoo internship programs and hopes to work with marine mammals long-term. She is currently running extracted samples using PCR and Gel Electrophoresis techniques to determine the prevalence of Ranavirus in local amphibian populations.