Meet The Team

Postdoc

NIMBioS Postdoctoral Fellow (Oct 2018-Oct 2020)

Postdoc

Postdoctoral Research Associate (Jan-Sept 2018)
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow (Oct 2018-2020)

Postdoc

Postdoctoral Researcher (Jun 2019 – Mar 2020)

PhD Student
mmamanto@utk.edu

Maggie completed her PhD in 2022. Her research in the lab examined behavioral responses to climate warming in introduced and native dung beetles as well as the impact of climate change on the range shifts of montane species. Maggie is also passionate about sharing science with the public and fostering an interest in STEM, as demonstrated through her outreach. Maggie is now a Lecturer in the Biology program at the University of Tennessee.

MS Student
Website

Claire’s thesis focused on the factors driving variation in the gut microbiomes of two species of Phanaeus dung beetles. Claire received an NSF GRFP during her second year in the Sheldon Lab, and she successfully defended her Masters thesis in July 2020. She started her PhD in Fall 2020 at CU Boulder.

MS Student

(Aug 2022-Jul 2024)

Nate completed his MS in July 2024. His thesis research focused on the effects of climate change on secondary seed dispersal in dung beetles. Before coming to UT, he was a Resident Naturalist and Conservation Research Fellow in Madre de Dios, Peru, where he worked primarily on Amazonian butterfly and dung beetle ecology. Nate first joined the Sheldon Lab in May 2022 when he traveled with other team members to Ecuador to work on projects investigating the effects of climate change on dung beetle behavior. He completed his undergraduate degree in zoology at the University of Florida.

Lab Tech

Matt worked in the lab from June-December 2017. He helped with beetle trapping in the Smokies, dung beetle breeding in the lab, and piloted a warming experiment in the field. He also first-authored an article on breeding biology of a rare Ecuadorian bird. Matt completed an MS at Cal State Monterey Bay and began his PhD at Berkeley in 2023.

REU student

Undergraduate researcher

Undergraduate researcher
Website

Will was in the lab from May 2017-August 2019. In 2017, he collected data for a manuscript on breeding biology of a tropical bird and presented at the Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EURēCA), the UT EEB undergraduate symposium, and UT Discovery Day. In 2018, Will received an undergraduate internship grant to carry out a summer project on behavioral responses of dung beetles to temperature change (Kirkpatrick & Sheldon 2022, Biology Letters). Will started a PhD program at the University of Arkansas in Fall 2019 and was awarded an NSF GRF for graduate study.

Lab Tech

Sarah joined the lab in August 2017 as an undergraduate and received a BS in Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology in 2018. She helped launch a new direction in the lab — gut microbiome research on dung beetles. She returned to the lab in November 2018 as a Lab Tech to help with a variety of ongoing and new projects. She started a PhD program at the University of Tennessee in Fall 2019.

Undergraduate researcher

David was a lab member from May 2017-May 2018. He helped with dung beetle breeding experiments and worked on a sodium addition experiment. He also co-authored a manuscript on the breeding biology of a bird species from Ecuador.

Undergraduate researcher

Jerame joined the lab in October 2019. He helped get the fall armyworm system off the ground. Jerame received a grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research in Spring 2020 for an independent research project in the lab. He later went on to dental school!

Undergraduate researcher

Undergraduate researcher

Undergraduate researcher

Brianna joined the lab in September 2019. She helped with several research projects related to dung beetle thermal physiology.

Undergraduate researcher

Connor joined the lab in September 2019, the same month he started his BS in Microbiology at UT. He had previous research experience in both a medical entomology lab and an oceanographic institute in Florida. Connor received a grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research in Spring 2020 for an independent research project in the lab.

Undergraduate

Abby joined the lab in Spring 2019. She helped rear beetles for various lab projects. She received a grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research in Spring 2020 for an independent research project in the lab.

Undergraduate

Shelby was in the lab from January-June 2018. In addition to being in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Shelby was part of the Vols Teach Program, which emphasizes field based experiences and is aimed at training those interested in a career in secondary teaching. Shelby helped with several outreach efforts in the lab, and she was the Education Coordinator for our summer research program with high school students of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Undergraduate researcher

Atira was in the lab from September 2016-May 2017. She received her Associate of Science degree from Pellissippi State Technical Community College. She completed her B.S. in Biology at the University of Tennessee in 2016 with a concentration in Microbiology. Atira became particularly interested in ecology and evolutionary biology and took additional undergraduate courses to round out her education while working in the lab. She assisted with dung beetle research and worked on an independent project examining operative temperatures of beetles across seasons.

Undergraduate researcher

Anna received a grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research for an independent project examining dung beetles in urban versus rural environments in Knoxville.

Undergraduate researcher

Bella assisted with dung beetle brood ball collection and rearing of offspring in the lab.

Undergraduate researcher

Logan assisted with general animal husbandry and lab maintenance.

Undergraduate researcher

Kylie assisted with dung beetle brood ball collection and rearing of offspring in the lab.

Undergraduate researcher

Duncan assisted with general animal husbandry and lab maintenance.