Graduate Students

Marguerite Langwig

langwig@wisc.edu

Ph.D Candidate, Freshwater and Marine Sciences Program (2021-present)

B.S., Biopsychology, Wagner College

M.S., Marine Science, The University of Texas at Austin

Research Interests: I am interested in using omics methods (mainly metagenomics) to understand the vast microbial diversity that exists in the world. I have a special love for marine environments, especially hydrothermal vents and the deep sea. I am excited about the novel insights omics techniques are providing about microbial ecology and hope to continue adding to our understanding in my PhD.

Katherine Klier

kklier@wisc.edu

Ph.D Candidate, Freshwater and Marine Sciences Program (2021-present)

B.S., Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Michigan

Research Interests: My research interests include investigating the ecological function of microbes and viruses in marine and freshwater ecosystems. I am interested in using bioinformatics and laboratory-based methods to better understand microbial processes and interactions that occur in various environments.

Cody Martin

ccmartin6@wisc.edu

Ph.D Candidate, Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, (2021-Present)
NSF Graduate Research Fellow

B.S. Biochemistry and Genetics, Texas A&M University, 2021

Research Interests: I am interested in using omics data to understand the role bacteriophages play in shaping microbial ecology and community functions like community metabolism. Additionally, I am interested in creating bioinformatic tools to help advance the study of phage impacts on microbial ecology and function.

ORCID

Etan Dieppa Colón

edieppa@wisc.edu

Ph.D Candidate, Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, (2021-Present)
NIH Biotechnology Training Program Predoctoral Fellow

B.S., Microbiology, University of Puerto Rico-Humacao, 2020

Research Interests: I’m interested in the ecological, evolutionary, and biogeochemical processes that shape and occur in microbial communities. I am mainly interested in studying microbial communities from an environmental perspective.

James Kosmopoulos

kosmopoulos@wisc.edu

Ph.D Candidate, Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, (2022-Present)

B.S., Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022

Research Interests: I want to understand how viruses influence the ecology and evolution of microbiomes. I’m particularly interested in using multi-omics approaches to expand upon known viral diversity, while also uncovering unique functions and processes that viruses bring to their hosts and the environment around them.

Dinesh Kumar Kuppa Baskaran

dkb@wisc.edu

Ph.D Candidate, Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, (2023-Present)

M.S., Computational Biology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, 2023

Research Interests: My areas of interest span microbial ecology, environmental microbiology, and viral metagenomics. As I strive to deepen my understanding of microbial dynamics within diverse ecological contexts, I am interested in studying interactions between microbes in a microbiome. Specifically, I aim to unravel the dynamics of host-virus interactions and their influence on shaping microbial communities. I believe understanding the patterns governing these interactions will give deeper insights into the pivotal role played by viruses in any ecosystem. 

Xing Huang

xhuang495@wisc.edu

Ph.D Candidate, Visiting Graduate Student from Zhejiang University (2022-Present)

Research Interests: Soil Microbiology and Virology