Each mentor-mentee relationship is unique. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with multiple undergraduate and graduate students. Here are some of the students with whom I have closely worked over the years.
Current Students
PALOMA MARTÍNEZ-ALESON GARCÍA
Paloma is currently a Ph. D. candidate at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). She did her bachelors in Famarcology at the UCM. She first joined my former lab at UCM in February 2017, after being accepted into the Ph.D. program of the School of Veterinary Medicine. She is interested in exploring the bioremediation potential of microalgae and cyanobacteria. She recently obtained a FEMS Research fellowship to research and performed a training visit at the Travisano lab at the University of Minnesota. We are excited to have her around next summer (2022) and share all her knowledge and experience!
Allison Lochen
Allison is a senior studying Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. Her interests in experimental evolution and microbiology began during her Biology Foundations II lab project on Pseudomonas fluorescent. She now works as a TA for the Foundations lab helping students with microbiology experiments. Allison joined the Travisano lab in October of 2021 to develop her research interests and currently assists me on the multicellular yeast and cyanobacteria projects. She will graduate with the class of 2022 and plans to pursue her microbiology interests as a career. When she is not working, you can find her practicing and performing with the University Women’s Chorus!
Jordan Sivigny
Jordan is a senior studying Biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. He first joined the Travisano lab in 2019 and started working closely with me at the end of 2020. He obtained his own MnDRIVE Undergraduate Scholar grant, Cyanobacteria, Ciliates, and Cyanotoxins Interplay. He is going to investigate the predator-prey dynamics of Ciliates and toxic Cyanobacteria. If not at the Travisano lab, he can be found around BioSci helping other students with their independent research projects as an undergraduate TA. But do not be tricked by his hard work. When the snow arrives he changes hats and becomes the President of the Sky and Snow club.
Past Students
Alicia Sillers
Lila Beck
Cedar Creek summer 2021 undergraduate independent projects
Emily Sroga
Héctor M. Díaz-Alejo
Estefano Bustillo-Avendaño
Paloma Martínez-Aleson García
Paloma is currently a Ph. D. candidate at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). She did her bachelors in Famarcology at the UCM. She first joined my former lab at UCM in February 2017, after being accepted into the Ph.D. program of the School of Veterinary Medicine. She is interested in exploring the bioremediation potential of microalgae and cyanobacteria. She recently obtained a FEMS Research fellowship to research and performed a training visit at the Travisano lab at the University of Minnesota. We are excited to have her around next summer (2022) and share all her knowledge and experience!
Jordan Sivigny
Jordan is a senior studying Biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. He first joined the Travisano lab in 2019 and started working closely with me at the end of 2020. He obtained his own MnDRIVE Undergraduate Scholar grant, Cyanobacteria, Ciliates, and Cyanotoxins Interplay. He is going to investigate the predator-prey dynamics of Ciliates and toxic Cyanobacteria. If not at the Travisano lab, he can be found around BioSci helping other students with their independent research projects as an undergraduate TA. But do not be tricked by his hard work. When the snow arrives he changes hats and becomes the President of the Ski and Snowboard club.
Past Students
Amanda Rogers, Micah Jay Strike & Grace Ducosin
Cedar Creek summer 2022 undergraduate independent projects
Amanda, Micah Jay, and Grace were hired to work at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Research Station. Apart from their job duties, they conducted an Independent Research Project under the supervision of Joshua Brian and myself. The project address the Effects of Nitrogen and Salt Addition on Phytoplankton in a Shallow Freshwater Lake.
They successfully carried out the research project and are currently working on the manuscript draft.
Amanda Rogers is currently a junior at the University of Minnesota, interested in molecular biology.
Micah Jay will join this fall an oceanographical campaign to complete an individual research project on biological productivity and mixed layer depth in the Pacific under the mentorship of Dr. Véronique Carignan. Afterward, they will start her junior year at Carleton College
Maia García
Life sciences summer undergraduate research program 2022 (LSSURP).
Maia conducted directed research under supervision within the LSSURP program. It was her first laboratory experience the summer before starting college. During the summer of 2002, she was able to learn laboratory techniques, conduct a supervised project, learn data analyses and communicate her research in a poster session. She successfully presented her research project entitled: "Competition between ancestor versus a constructed heterozygous strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae".
Allison Lochen
Allison is a senior studying Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. Her interests in experimental evolution and microbiology began during her Biology Foundations II lab project on P. fluorescens. She now works as a TA for the Foundations lab helping students with microbiology experiments. Allison joined the Travisano lab in October of 2021 to develop her research interests and currently assists me on the multicellular yeast and cyanobacteria projects. She will graduate with the class of 2022 and plans to pursue her microbiology interests as a career. When she is not working, you can find her practicing and performing with the University Women’s Chorus!
Alicia Sillers
Lila Beck
Cedar Creek summer 2021 undergraduate independent projects
Alicia finished their undergrad in the Spring of 2021 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and minor in Computational Science. During Summer of 2021 she worked with Bea on a microalgae community composition project while interning at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. She hopes to go back to school to pursue a Ph.D. in Plant Biology and go into research. She is interested in researching plant epigenetics and how epigenetic control of gene expression affects other topics like plant resilience and evolution.
Lila was hired for an internship at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CCESR) during the summer of 2021. Additionally, she decided to conduct an independent research proyect from June until August.
Lila was interested in studying Bison grazing and foraging behaviors. She successfully observed and gather data about; Effect of bison (Bison bison) herbivory and prescribed burning on species richness and biodiversity of oak savanna.
Emily Sroga
Erik Wanberg
Spring 2021 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)
Emily is a senior studying Biology at the University of Minnesota. She is graduating in the Spring of 2022 with plans to apply to medical school. Outside of school and research, she uses her free-time to work as an emergency department medical scribe and spend time with her family and friends!
Erik is a senior studying Biology at the University of Minnesota. He is graduating in the Spring of 2022 with plans to apply to medical school. He is currently working at the Garry Lab in the Cancer and Cardiovascular Research Building
Both Emily and Erik contacted me after developing an interest for experimental evolution in her Foundations II lab. Against odds given the COVID-19 pandemic situation and restrictions imposed by the University that semester, they were able to design, conduct and analyze data resulting from their joint research. They made an amazing team, working hard and helping each other in every step. Concretely, their group’s project focused on identifying physical differences between genetic variants of multicellular yeast. https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/220288. I am sure they would succeed and enroll in the Medical School of their wish.
They made me the proudest mentor in the world when they started this in their final report to the CBS school;
"Our research supervisor, Dr. Beatriz Baselga Cervera, made our project incredibly fun and educational. Her outstanding positivity and endless microbiology knowledge were the perfect fit for us. Every day in the lab was an independent, but constructive learning experience that created an overall incredible research experience. We cannot believe how lucky we are to work with someone so special!"
Katie Schroeder
Katie is currently a Ph.D. student, at Strauss lab at the University of Georgia! She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's in Science in Earth Sciences in 2021, with majors in Ecology, Evolution, and Biology as well as Plant and Microbiology. She carried out her Senior Thesis project supervised by me and Prof. Emilie Snell-Ruth on the effect of Copper on the nectar yeast Metschnikowia reukaufii. Katie worked hard to merge toxicity, microbiology, and plant physiology. She worked extremely hard both in the lad with the nectar yeast and in the greenhouse milking nectar.
She is an amzing scientis.
Héctor M. Díaz-Alejo
Hector is a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Veterinary Medicine in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. I met Hector after he graduated in Veterinary Medicine. He joined Albiotox Lab in 2018, before starting the Ph.D. program at the same university. I mentored Hector during his first two years in the lab. His work and help resulted in the co-authorship of a manuscript about microbial diversity in Uranium mining pods (DOI:10.1007/s00248-019-01431-6). Apart from science, he is an avid writer that wants to make science accessible to general audiences.
He is not writing or carrying on experiments, you might not find him at home but in any hidden corner of the world because traveling is his passion.
Estefano is a Ph.D. candidate at Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. I met Estefano after he graduated from the School of Biology. He started a Master's Degree in Applied Plant Biology. I directly supervised his work at Albiotox lab in microalgae metal toxicity. His work in the lab resulted in a co-authorship of an article (DOI:10.7717/peerj.1823).
Estefano Bustillo-Avendaño