RUBENSTEIN LAB

integrative organismal biology in a changing world

MEET THE TEAM

Superb starling family

principal investigator

Dustin Rubenstein

Thomas Hunt Morgan Professor of Conservation Biology

CV BIO GOOGLE SCHOLAR

Dustin’s research spans molecules to populations, from invertebrates to vertebrates, and across levels of analysis, scales of biological organization, and the globe. He takes an integrative approach to understand why complex animal societies form and how organisms cope with environmental change through studies that combine behavior, ecology, and evolution with those of the underlying molecular, neural, and neuroendocrine mechanisms. He has studied a variety of terrestrial vertebrate and invertebrate systems (birds, reptiles, mammals and insects) on every continent except Antarctica, as well as marine organisms (crustaceans).

postdocs

Frane Barbarović ’24 - 27

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow

WEBPAGE

Frane is interested in the diversity of plumage coloration and its evolutionary origins, with a particular focus on structural colors. Previously, Frane explored paleontological evidence of structural coloration in the fossil record and studied evolutionary mechanisms leading to the transition from pigmentary to structural colors. For his postdoctoral research, he will investigate the cellular mechanisms involved in the development of iridescent structural color in African starlings, specifically focusing on melanosome modifications. He will approach this topic from histological and genetic perspectives.

graduate students

Katelyn Sanko ’24 -

WEBPAGE

Katie is interested in evolutionary genomics and the molecular basis of behavior. As an undergraduate, she studied the speciation continuum in the socially parasitic ant Polyergus mexicanus, as well the systematics of a clade of ants from Madagascar. After college, she worked in biotech and in a molecular genomics lab studying the parallel evolution of regulatory changes affecting pigmentation in several mammal species. For her PhD, she will apply her background in evolutionary genomics, functional genetics, and gene editing to study the molecular basis of cooperative breeding behavior in the Asian burying beetle. In particular, she will explore the role of chromosomal inversions in the evolution of cooperation.

research associates

Joseph Solomon

Lab Manager

Joe received his MA from Hunter College before joining the lab. He manages the lab in New York, overseeing students, helping with bioinformatics and data analysis, and all aspects of lab work.

Wilson Nderitu

Field Manager

Wilson has worked on the African starling project since it began in 2001. He completed his Diploma in Wildlife Management at the KWS Training Institute and is now getting his BA in Travel and Tourism Management at Mount Kenya University.

Elkana Korir

Field Assistant

Korir has worked on the African starling project since 2019. Previously he worked on the social weaver and guinea fowl projects at the Mpala Research Centre.

former lab members

postdocs

Stefanie Siller Wilks ’22 - 26

Columbia Frontiers of Science Fellow

WEBPAGE

Irene Garcia Ruiz ’23 - 25

Swiss National Science Foundation Fellow

Postdoctoral Fellow, Université de Neuchâtel

WEBPAGE

Patrick Kennedy ’21 - ’23

Marie Skłodowska-Curie & Simons Foundation Fellow

Lecturer (Assistant Professor), University of Bristol

WEBPAGE

Renata Mazzei ’19 - ’21

Swiss National Science Foundation Fellow

Postdoctoral Associate, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Shana Caro ’17 - ’20

Simons Foundation Fellow

Assistant Professor, Adelphi University

Solomon Chak ’16 - ’19

Life Sciences Research Fellow

Assistant Professor, Denison University

WEBPAGE

Rafael Maia ’15 - ’18

Simons Foundation Fellow

Machine Learning Engineer, Apple Inc.

Katherine Brooks ’14 - ’17

Columbia Frontiers of Science Fellow

Collection Analysis Librarian, Columbia University

Stephen Harris ’15 - ’16

Columbia Frontiers of Science Fellow

Associate Professor, SUNY Purchase

Melissa Mark ’09 - ’12

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow

Exec Director, Washington Research Conserv & Dev Council

WEBPAGE

PhD students

Alexis Earl PhD ’24

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell University

WEBPAGE

Stefanie Siller PhD ’22

NSF Graduate Research Fellow

WEBPAGE

Shailee Shah PhD ’22

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell University

WEBPAGE

Yi-Ru Cheng PhD ’21

Postdoctoral Associate, Academia Sinica

WEBPAGE

Jay Falk PhD ’20 (Cornell)

NSF Graduate Research Fellow

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Colorado Boulder

WEBPAGE

Sarah Guindre-Parker

Sarah Guindre-Parker PhD ’17

NSERC Graduate Fellow

Assistant Professor, Kennesaw State University

WEBPAGE

MA students

Jerry Guan

Jerry Shuzhe Guan MA ’22

PhD student, Harvard University

WEBPAGE

Catherine Yung-Yi Lan MA ’21

MD student, Poznań Univ of Medical Sciences

Eleanor Diamant MA ’17

PhD, UCLA

Assistant Professor, Bard College

WEBPAGE

Yuki Haba MA ’17

PhD, Princeton University

Leon Levy Scholar, Columbia University

WEBPAGE

Alyxandra Pikus MA ’17

Senior Program Manager,

Oxbridge Academic Programs

WEBPAGE

Natalie Hofmeister MA ’15

PhD, Cornell University

Assistant Professor, Miami University

WEBPAGE

Rebecca Kelley MA ’13

PhD, New Mexico State University

Data Scientist, Meta

James Kealey MA ’12

Science Teacher,

Richmond High School, Richmond CA

Kathleen Apakupakul MA ’12

Research Associate

Institute for Conservation Medicine, Saint Louis Zoo

WEBPAGE

Sara Keen MA ’11

PhD, Cornell University

Senior Research Scientist, Earth Species Project

WEBPAGE

undergraduate thesis students

Arden Berlinger CC ’20

Science Research Fellow

PhD student, University of Cambridge

WEBPAGE

Hannah Skolnik CC ’15

Amgen Scholar

DVM, UC Davis

Clinical Veterinarian, New York University

Laura Booth

Laura Booth CC ’15

Tennessee Valley Biologist, National Park Service

Lucia Weinman CC ’14

PhD, Rutgers University

Postdoctoral Scholar, UC Davis

WEBPAGE

Julia Pilowsky CC ’12

MA, Tufts University; PhD, University of Copenhagen

Postdoctoral Scientist, Cary Institute

WEBPAGE

Caitlin Dean CC ’12

JD, University of Michigan

IP Litigator, Kirkland & Ellis

Lea Pollack CC ’12

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow

PhD, UC Davis

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota

WEBPAGE

Jeremy Law CC ’11

MA, Columbia University

Senior Principal Scientist, Hazen and Sawyer

undergraduate interns

research associates

Eriifeoluwa Adelusimo CC ’22 (sTEAM Fellow)

Yutian Lin CC ’22 (sTEAM Fellow)

Ugochinyere Ndukwe CC ’22 (sTEAM Fellow)

Riley Smith CC ’22 (sTEAM Fellow)

Jacob Whitson GS ’22 (sTEAM Fellow)

Nicolas Beltran CC ’22 (sTEAM Fellow)

Sarah Marazzi-Sassoon BC ’22

Debbie Leung CC ’21

Faith Ajayi CC ’21 (Rabi Scholar)

Ona Jae Lee SEAS ’21

Shoshana Sernik GS ’20

Sophia Kislik BC ’20

Christian Eggers CC ’20

Jake Arlow BC ’19

Joseph Knee CC ’19

Kaiulani Sakaguchi CC ’19

Francesca Garofalo CC ’18

Tatini Mal-Sarkar CC ’17

Michael Spiotta GS ‘17

Karen Bao CC ’16

Fayme Cai CC ’16

Catherine Chen CC ’15

Brahadheeshwar Sundararaju CC ’15

Elora Lopez CC ’15

Nathen Huang CC ’14

Kerstin Nolan CC ’14

Sonalee Rau CC ’14

Madeline Cohen CC ’13

Heather D’Angelo GS ’12

Ben Eckersley CC ’13

Nathan Bailey CC’ 12

Jordan Hollarsmith CC ’12

Linnet Jessell (University of Kings College)

Suraj Nagaraj (UC Berkeley)

Brynn McCleery (Cornell University)

visiting students & postdocs

post-baccalaureate interns

Zhaleh Mahootian (Bronx High School of Science ’20)

Hank Marriott (Ethical Culture Fieldston School ’20)

Livia Marchese (Briarcliff High School ’19)

Regina Hashim (home school student ’19)

Samuel Levy (Abram Joshua Heschel School ’18)

Rebecca Marcus (Mamaroneck High School ’18)

Myron Huang (Bronx High School of Science ’18)

Katherine Grygiercyzk (Valley Stream South High Sch ’17)

Gillian Carling (The Bronx High School of Science ’13)

Kaitlyn Gaynor (PhD UC Berkeley; Assistant Professor, UBC)

Paul Kiplangat

James Kiplangat

Joseph Mosiany

Godffrey Manyaas

John Mpaiyan

Silvio Lentutu

Gabriel Rana

John Maina

James Ekiru

Stephen Muige

Julius Ronjore

Tyler Davis (Cornell University)

Kaitlyn Gaynor (Columbia University)

Rebecca Harris (Cornell University)

Sarah Khalil (Cornell University)

Brynn McCleery (Cornell University)

Lea Pollack (Columbia University)

Stefanie Siller (Princeton University)

Gabrielle Welsh (University of Maryland)

high school interns

visiting faculty

Rebecca Calisi (University of California, Berkeley)

Rafael Maia (University of Akron)

Daniel Meliza (University of Chicago)

Juan Rubalcaba (King Juan Carlos University)

Tim Greives (North Dakota State University)

[email protected] | 1-212-854-4881 | 90 Morningside Drive (office) | 851-854 Schermerhorn Extension (lab)

© 2002-2026 | Dustin R. Rubenstein

RUBENSTEIN LAB