Current Lab

Research Associates

Ahna Van Gaest

Ahna Van Gaest standing in the snow and smiling up at the camera.Education:

M.S. University of Oregon, Biology

B.S. University of Oregon, Biology

Projects: The impact of symbiont-larval interactions on species distributions across southwestern Pacific hydrothermal vents.

Dispersal depth and the transport of deep-sea methane-seep larvae around a biogeographic barrier

Email: vangaea@wwu.edu

 

Post-doctoral Scientists

Dr. Tanika Ladd

Education:

Western Washington University, Bellingham, 2014, B.S. in Mathematics, Minors in Chemistry, Physics, and Environmental Science.

University of California Santa Barbara, PhD in Marine Science 2021

Projects: The predictive nature of microbial biofilms for cuing larval settlement at deep-sea hydrothermal vents

Using metabarcoding to elucidate trophic interactions in planktonic communities at hydrothermal vents

Email: laddt@wwu.edu

 

Current Graduate Students

Mel Lemke

Mel smiling and waving to the camera while leaning over the side of the Alvin submersible before descending. Education:

B.S. Marine Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 2021

Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, Marine and Estuarine Science Program, M.S. in Biology, expected 2025

Thesis Title: No free meals! Evaluating mussel and worm symbiosis at East Pacific Rise hydrothermal vents

Email: lemkem4@wwu.edu

Projects: The predictive nature of microbial biofilms for cuing larval settlement at deep-sea hydrothermal vents

 

Luke Ghallahorne

Luke Ghallahorne standing in a tropical themed shark shirt on a sunny day.Education:

B.S. Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 2022

Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, Marine and Estuarine Science Program, M.S. in Biology, expected 2025

Thesis Topic: Modeling the dispersal of Olympia oyster in the Salish Sea

Email: ghallal@wwu.edu

Project: The Olympia oyster project

 

 

Laura Hanna

Laura smiling and waving to the camera before entering the Alvin submersible.Education:

B.S. Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 2022

Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, Marine and Estuarine Science Program, M.S. in Biology, expected 2025

Thesis Topic: Microbiome shifts across development of the chemosymbiotic vent snail Alviniconcha spp.

Email: @wwu.edu

Project: The impact of symbiont-larval interactions on species distributions across southwestern Pacific hydrothermal vents.

 

Wyatt Heimbichner Goebel

Education:

Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, B.S. in Biology 2019

Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, Marine and Estuarine Science Program, M.S. in Biology, expected 2023

Thesis Title: Larval settlement as a function of physical characteristics of microbial biofilms in intertidal and hydrothermal vent systems

Project: The predictive nature of microbial biofilms for cuing larval settlement at deep-sea hydrothermal vents

Email: heimbiw@wwu.edu

Interested in joining the larval lab?

Keep an eye on our Lab News for current positions or email Shawn.Arellano@wwu.edu