People in the Lab

Principal Investigator

Leslea J. Hlusko earned her B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1992. After four years exploring the non-academic life in Washington, D.C., she went to Penn State University, where she earned an M.A. (1998) and Ph.D. (2000).  Leslea was an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 2000-2004, and then moved to the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California Berkeley. She received tenure in 2008 and was promoted to full professor in 2018. In 2021, she moved into a research professor position at CENIEH, Spain.
hlusko_cv_august2022
www.researchgate.net/profile/Leslea_Hlusko
ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0003-0189-6390
Scopus Author ID: 6602557816
(follow on twitter @LHlusko; email: hlusko (at) berkeley.edu or leslea.hlusko (at) cenieh.es)

Postdoctoral Researcher

catCatherine Taylor earned her PhD from the University of California Berkeley in Integrative Biology in May of 2022, and her BA in Physical Anthropology and Evolutionary Biology from Case Western Reserve University in 2016. She has done paleoanthropological fieldwork with the Olduvai Geochronology and Archaeology Project at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, and with the Woranso-Mille Paleoanthropological Research Project in the Afar region of Ethiopia. Her dissertation research focused on the ontogeny of long bone growth in humans. (follow on twitter @ThePaleoCat; email: catherine_taylor(at)berkeley.edu)

Graduate Students

Peter w. turtle_small Peter Kloess completed his B.S. in Earth Sciences from Montana State University in 2003. He spent the subsequent decade travelling across the United States protecting fossils as an environmental consultant, as well as collecting and cataloguing fossils as a museum assistant curator. He returned to academia, earning his M.S. in Geological Sciences from California State University, Fullerton in 2015. His PhD research focuses on the evolution of the feeding apparatus in turtles, to quantify cranial morphology with diet and habitat (email: pakloess(at)berkeley.edu)

Taormina Lepore earned her BS in Biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2006. She holds an MS in Museum and Field Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder and an MS in Science Education from Montana State University. After teaching science at public and private high schools for several years, Tara entered IB’s PhD program in August 2019 to explore how paleontological research can be employed to teach scientific literacy. (email: tlepore(at)berkeley.edu)

End-of-semester lab lunch, May 2016

Here's most of the lab members, all together for end-of-semester resarch presentations. May 2016.
Here’s most of the lab members, all together for end-of-semester research presentations. May 2016.

Past Lab Members

Julia Addiss, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2009-2011; Stephen Akerson, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2008-2010; Sarah Amugongo Brown, Graduate Student, PhD 2010; Chris Anderson, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2005; Marianne Brasil, PhD 2020; Amy Bartel, Undergraduate Research Assistant, AY 2014-15; Liz Bates, HERC Staff Research Assistant 2006-2009; Liz Broughton, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2004-2008; Josh Cohen, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2009-2012; Salar Deldar, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2004-2005; Rena Dvoretzky (Spring 2017 – Spring 2018); Sharlene Cam, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2012-2014; Selene Clay, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2013-15; Jeff Coleman, Undergraduate Research Assistant & honors thesis, 2015 – 2017); Michelle Thanh Dinh, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2015 – 2016) Nick Do, Undergraduate Research Assistant & NSF REU recipient, 2004-2006; Maris Dyer, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2013; Brittany Doremus, Undergrad honors thesis, 2005-2006; Fadi Faraskh, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2014 – Spring 2016; Zach Fletcher, Undergraduate Research Assistant 2005-2008; Kalynn Graham, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Spring 2015; Sarah Greenlee (Fall 2017 – Spring 2018); Theresa Grieco, Graduate Student, PhD 2013; Sandy Gutierrez, Undergraduate Research Assistant & IMSD Fellow 2013-2014; Nima Hejazi, Undergraduate Research Assistant 2011-2012; Jeannie Hernandez, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2004; Nicholas Herold, Undergraduate Research Assistant Fall 2014 – Fall 2015; Anne Holden, Postdoctoral Research Assistant, 2006-2007; Mike Holmes, Graduate student, 2010-2011; Michaela Huffman, Postdoctoral Research Assistant, September 2014 – August 2016; Amanda Israel, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2014 – Spring 2016; Romali Kamat, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2014 – Summer 2016; Charity Karungari, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2015 – Spring 2016; Niyatha Kaval, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2015 – 2017; Sarah Kendall, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Spring 2013 – Summer 2015; Eun Jin Kim, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2015 – 2016; Tina Koh, Undergraduate Research Assistant & honors thesis, 2004-2008, Research Assistant, 2008-2009; Alexis Lainoff, Undergraduate Research Assistant (2008-2009), Staff Lab Assistant (2009-2011); Priscilla Lee, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2010-2011; Daniel Lopez, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2009-2010; Bogart Marquez, Undergraduate Research Assistant (2012-2015); Madeline McNelis, Staff Research Assistant (2020-2022), Tesla Monson, Volunteer Research Assistant 2008, Graduate Student, PhD 2017, Postdoctoral researcher 2017-2018; Sarah Moon, graduate student, 2008-2009; Kurtis Morrish, undergraduate research assistant, 2009-2012; Jacqueline Moustakas-Verho, postdoctoral researcher, 2007-2010; Alicia Murua-Gonzalez, undergraduate research assistant, 2008-2010; Jackson Njau, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2009-2011; Chris Page, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2005; Rachel Patterson (Fall 2017 – Spring 2018); Shruti Ravindramurthy (Fall 2016 – Spring 2018); Natalie Reeder, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2004-2005; Whitney Reiner, Graduate Student 2011-2017, PhD 2017; Oliver Rizk, Graduate Student, PhD 2012; Chris Schmitt, Postdoctoral Scholar, 2014-2015; Joseph Seo (Fall 2016 – Spring 2018); Sabrina Sholts, Postdoctoral Scholar, 2010-2012; Kevin Taehyung, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2014 – 2016; Risa Takenaka, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2013-2015; Mollie Tessler, undergraduate research assistant, summer 2019 – May 2021, NSF REU January – April 2022; Kara Timmins, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2009-2010; Joshua Varkel, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Spring 2015; Jeffrey Wang, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2015 – 2016; Mallory Watkins, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2008-2012; Whitney Wah-Siu Tse, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2015 – 2016; Natalie Wu, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2004-2005; Amy Yen, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2005-2006; Ryan Yohler, graduate student affiliate 2018-2020; Sunwoo Yoo, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2013-2015; Jeffrey Yoshihara, Undergraduate Research Assistant 2009-2011; Ellen Young, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2006; Anne Zavala, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Spring 2015 – Spring 2016; Michael Zhou, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2015 – 2016); Stella Zhu,  Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2015 – 2016; Arta Zowghi, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2007-2010; Madeleine Zuercher, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Fall 2015 – August 2019