People

Lab members

Brian Hollis
brian.hollis@sc.edu
You can read about my scientific interests under the research section of the site. Outside of science, I like to read, hike, and I am a former basketball junkie (in the dual roles of fan and awful player; pickleball is now more my speed).

Samantha Kincaid
PhD student (2020-present)
Samantha is using Drosophila melanogaster to study the evolutionary forces shaping interactions between the sexes that are centered on mating and reproduction, with an emphasis on the female side of these interactions. 

Graham McLaughlin
PhD student (2022-present)
Graham is using experimental evolution with Drosophila melanogaster to study whether reinforcing selection can increase reproductive isolation between populations. He is also studying the phylogeography of flying insects in the Galapagos.

Veronica Baquero
PhD student (2025-present)
Veronica is a new PhD student who has worked on our project on the Galapagos islands and is now developing a new project in the lab.

Sophia Sudak
Laboratory technician (2021-present)
Sophia maintains Drosophila populations in the lab, helps everyone run their experiments, and is also conducting her own independent research on sexual conflict in flies.

Undergraduate researchers

Amelia Massey (2025-present)
Sage Striz (2025-present)
Marion Sturkie (2024-present)

Lab alumni

Claudia Wyer, PhD (2023)
Claudia was co-advised with Lauren Cator at Imperial College London and worked with the Yellow Fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, to explore the genetic basis of male mating success in this important disease vector.

Sakshi Sharda, PhD (2022)
For her PhD, Sakshi used the Drosophila melanogaster – Pseudomonas entomophila host-pathogen system to explore the genetic basis of resistance to infection, test for the presence of sex-specific or sexually-antagonistic genetic effects, and ask whether the presence of male-male competition and female choice facilitates adaptation to pathogens.

Michael Beyeler, MSc (2018)
Rohan Raval, MSc (2016)
Michael Jardine, MSc (2016)

Sydney Wilson (2024-2025)
Laura Witzel (2024)
Teaghan Brosokas (2023-2024)
Danthanh Vu (2023-2024)
Skylar McNulty (2022-2023)
Victoria White (2022-2023)
Madison Curran (2022)
Claire Compton (2020-2021)
Faith Buchanan (2021)
Isabela Valenta (2021)
Haven Curtis (2020-2021)

Collaborators past and present

Cator group @ Imperial College London
Maria de Lourdes Torres group @ Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Kawecki group @ University of Lausanne
Keller group @ University of Lausanne
Deplancke group @ EPFL
Fricke group @ University of Muenster
Li group @ University of Neuchatel