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Dr. Lautebur is an evolutionary ecologist and bioinformatician, interested in how organisms evolve in response to ecological pressures such as dietary toxins and disease. She obtained her PhD in 2019 in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University, where she studied the physiology and genetics of cyanide adaptation in bamboo-specialized mammals (focusing on bamboo lemurs), theoretical conservation genomics, and adaptation via gene duplication. She earned a BA in Biology and a Bachelors of Music in Historical Performance from Oberlin College and Conservatory. As a postdoc at the University of Arizona she is developing methods in population genetics to improve the detection of natural selection in ancient populations. As an NSF postdoctoral fellow she is studying the ecological drivers of genomic disease adaptation in bats. This will help us to understand how different environments and climates affect the prevalence of infectious disease, including how climate change affects patterns of disease. In her teaching and mentoring she is committed to making learning a collaborative experience that supports and benefits from students of diverse backgrounds. 

Dr. Jennifer Lising Roxas is a Research Scientist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Arizona's School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences. She is co-mentored by Prof. Michael W. Riggs and Prof. Gayatri Vedantam. Her long-term career goal is to lead a research program focused on developing novel therapeutics against diarrheal diseases in humans and livestock. Jenny received her Ph.D. in 2017 at the University of Arizona for her research investigating disease mechanisms of a human intestinal pathogen enteropathogenic E. coli. She also investigated disease mechanisms in another gut pathogen, C. difficile. She has three active grants for investigating Cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite that causes diarrheal disease in humans and calves. She recently received a two-year USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. In addition, she is a recipient of two intramural grants: the UA Sursum Fellowship and the UA BIO5 Postdoctoral Fellowship. Jenny is also an ad hoc reviewer for several leading microbiology journals including Gut Microbes and Frontiers in Microbiology.

Dr. Kamber Schwarz earned her PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics from the University of Michigan in 2018. She studies chemical processes in the gas-rich, planet forming disks around young stars, with the ultimate goal of determining the amount of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen available to forming planets. Her research combines high resolution observations at millimeter wavelengths with physical/chemical modeling in order to constrain the timescale and mechanisms of C/N/O processing.

Jenny is the Director of Postdoctoral Affairs and a Professor of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Her research, most of which has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), focuses on speech physiology in neuromuscular disease. Her publications include three textbooks and more than eighty journal articles. Jenny is a University of Arizona Galileo Circle Scholar, Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and former Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. She has served as a reviewer for NIH, U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, private foundations, and the University of Arizona.

Kim Patten is Director, Research Development Services, at the University of Arizona. She leads a team of research development professionals that excel in supporting faculty in their pursuit of extramural funding from federal, corporate, and foundation sponsors resulting in more than $250 million in awards to campus since 2014. Part of this success is based on a holistic view of research development and the research lifecycle with an emphasis on the societal impacts of research such as the incorporation and promotion of undergraduate research experiences, core community partnerships, and inclusive practices. Prior to joining UA, Patten managed projects and programs in conservation, renewable energy, and distributed data systems both nationally and internationally. As Associate Director at the Arizona Geological Survey she managed and conducted research on a more than $30m portfolio, including Co-PI on a $3.6m National Science Foundation project and project manager of a $22m U.S. Department of Energy project. Prior to her work at AZGS, she was Programs Director at a science-based non-profit organization where she helped expand the organization's research portfolio.