Meet the advisor team
This team has two types of advisors—graduate and undergraduate students. Comprised of amazing individuals, they've volunteered their time to help answer any questions incoming or current transfer students might have about research in a specific area. Come chat with us on our discord server!
Graduate student advisors
Alyssa Maness — Psychology PhD student
Gabrielle Wyatt — Plant Biology PhD student
Aaron Beckner— Psychology PhD student
Jake Russin — Psychology PhD student
Winnie Zhuang — Psychology PhD student
Jill Oberski — Entomology PhD student
Christian Pratt — Physics PhD student
undergrad student advisors
Hi! I'm Amber (she/they), a junior at UC Davis! I'm a Global Disease Biology/ Plant Genetics major. I'm a Clinical Research Associate for the EMRAP program, in the UC Davis School of Medicine's Emergency Department. I work on clinical research in the Trauma Level 1 Center and burn facility. I'm also currently doing plant biology/genetics research with Brady Labs, using CRISPR/Cas9 to edit two genes in tomato root cells to increase suberin production and drought resistance. Outside of lab, I love painting, card games, and spending time with my friends/family! I'm really interested in public health, genetics, plant pathology, and medical sciences. I'm hoping to pursue medicine by getting a dual PA-MPH degree after graduation.
Feel free to reach out anytime!! My email is: ambellis@ucdavis.edu
My name is Chi Nguyen. I’m currently a third-year transfer student in Cell Biology major originally from Mission College in Santa Clara, Bay Area. I’ve been in the Heyer lab since Jun 2021 doing research about the regulation of MSH6 protein during homologous recombination (HR) in repairing DNA damage. DNA repair is an important process to maintain genome stability and prevent DNA damage-related diseases, such as cancer. Among the pathways to repair DNA damage, HR is the only high-fidelity one. The faithfulness of DNA repair depends on numerous regulatory factors, including the protein that I am interested in, MSH6. My project has multiple stages, starting with making my mutant Yeast strains by cloning and testing my hypothesis (genetically). After that, I’ll work with my mentor to characterize MSH6 mutants of interest (biochemically). It was really hard during the shelter-in-place year; moreover, adapting to the new environment at UCD while keeping my study and research on track put a strain on me. Thus, I picked up a new hobby of gaming during my free time or when I need to relax. I play Genshin on PC, Zelda and Fire Emblem on Switch, some gacha card games on mobile. My main genres are JRPG, strategy, adventure, dating sims, otome games. I also love to have food tours around Davis, checking new restaurants and trying new cuisines. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you are interested or have any questions about genetics/molecular biology/DNA research, or just because you would like to talk about games!
.jpg)
Hello! My name is Sarah and I’m an animal biology major and global disease biology minor. My current research is an experimental infection of canine distemper virus in macaque tissue explants at the Keel Laboratory. On my time off, I enjoy spending time in the outdoors, taking care of my pets, and reading.
Email: smmark@ucdavis.edu
Hi! I'm Amber (she/they), a junior at UC Davis! I'm a Global Disease Biology/ Plant Genetics major. I'm a Clinical Research Associate for the EMRAP program, in the UC Davis School of Medicine's Emergency Department. I work on clinical research in the Trauma Level 1 Center and burn facility. I'm also currently doing plant biology/genetics research with Brady Labs, using CRISPR/Cas9 to edit two genes in tomato root cells to increase suberin production and drought resistance. Outside of lab, I love painting, card games, and spending time with my friends/family! I'm really interested in public health, genetics, plant pathology, and medical sciences. I'm hoping to pursue medicine by getting a dual PA-MPH degree after graduation.
Feel free to reach out anytime!! My email is: ambellis@ucdavis.edu
My name is Chi Nguyen. I’m currently a third-year transfer student in Cell Biology major originally from Mission College in Santa Clara, Bay Area. I’ve been in the Heyer lab since Jun 2021 doing research about the regulation of MSH6 protein during homologous recombination (HR) in repairing DNA damage. DNA repair is an important process to maintain genome stability and prevent DNA damage-related diseases, such as cancer. Among the pathways to repair DNA damage, HR is the only high-fidelity one. The faithfulness of DNA repair depends on numerous regulatory factors, including the protein that I am interested in, MSH6. My project has multiple stages, starting with making my mutant Yeast strains by cloning and testing my hypothesis (genetically). After that, I’ll work with my mentor to characterize MSH6 mutants of interest (biochemically). It was really hard during the shelter-in-place year; moreover, adapting to the new environment at UCD while keeping my study and research on track put a strain on me. Thus, I picked up a new hobby of gaming during my free time or when I need to relax. I play Genshin on PC, Zelda and Fire Emblem on Switch, some gacha card games on mobile. My main genres are JRPG, strategy, adventure, dating sims, otome games. I also love to have food tours around Davis, checking new restaurants and trying new cuisines. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you are interested or have any questions about genetics/molecular biology/DNA research, or just because you would like to talk about games!
Hello! My name is Sarah and I’m an animal biology major and global disease biology minor. My current research is an experimental infection of canine distemper virus in macaque tissue explants at the Keel Laboratory. On my time off, I enjoy spending time in the outdoors, taking care of my pets, and reading.
Email: smmark@ucdavis.edu