Lab Professionals

Meet Our Wildlife Toxicology Lab Experts

As of February 10, 2026

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Cassie Henry
Post-Doctoral Research Collaborator

Prior to coming to Texas Tech University, I conducted research to study the effects of contaminants on snakes as an undergraduate, and then I worked as a fisheries observer in Alaska, as well as a research technician on several projects that studied turtles in Illinois. I recently graduated from TTU with a Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology. My doctoral research focused on conducting studies required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to register a medicated feed to treat parasites in wild northern bobwhite. I also used molecular techniques to identify potential intermediate hosts of those parasites. For my post-doctoral research, I wish to continue studying the impacts parasites have on wild bobwhite.

Aravindan Kalyanasundaram
Post-Doctoral Research Collaborator

I graduated with a Ph.D in Biotechnology from the University of Madras (Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture-ICAR) in November 2011. My doctoral research has focused on identifying novel seafood allergens (Pen m 3.0101, Pen m 4.0101 & Pen m 6.0101) in black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon. My previous research experience dealt with the molecular epidemiology of ticks and tick borne diseases, and epidemiological studies focusing on anthelmintic resistance in nematodes that affect ruminants. The objective was to identify potential recombinant vaccine candidates to combat parasite infections in ruminants. As a Post-Doctoral Research Investigator in the Wildlife Toxicology Laboratory, I wish to advance our understanding of the pathogenicity and life cycle of parasites in quail.

Jeremiah Leach
Post-Doctoral Research Collaborator

My prior research experience focused on an introduced trematode that infects waterfowl. I surveyed waterfowl across much of Texas to determine prevalence and intensity while also describing the pathology associated with infection. I also conducted an experiment to better understand the behavior of one infective stage of the parasite. My research at TTU will focus on the impacts of parasites on Bobwhite Quail population in the Rolling Plains and will include developing a protocol that utilizes recent advances in DNA sequencing to monitor the endoparasite communities of wildlife.

Hannah Suber
Post-Doctoral Research Associate

I completed my undergraduate degree in Zoological sciences, during which I was heavily involved in various wildlife research projects. My primary focus was on the Peaks of Otter Salamander, a threatened species endemic to only a few mountain peaks in central Virginia. However, my involvement in a project studying Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in frogs and its sister fungus B. salamandrivorans in salamanders quickly piqued a profound interest in epidemiological research, which brought me here to The Wildlife Toxicology Laboratory. Over the course of my graduate studies, I plan on researching the effects of various environmental factors on the epidemiology of parasites found in Bobwhite Quail. Hopefully, this will give vital insight into mitigating these detrimental infections in order to help restore the populations of the iconic gamebird species.

Tammy Henricks
Administrative Assistant

I have been employed at Texas Tech for 27 years with 21 of those working for Dr. Kendall. I retired in December 2020 and returned part-time in March 2021.

Henry Valencia
Ph.D. Graduate Student

Prior to acceptance into Texas Tech University and joining the Wildlife Toxicology Laboratory, I conducted research to study fluvial dynamics of various creek systems and effects of eutrophication along an urbanized gradient in the south-central Texas region and effectiveness of a low cost phytoremediation for accelerated removal while increasing dissolved oxygen as an undergraduate, a week after graduating I worked in a non-profit environmental consulting company conducting various projects including: dendroecological research and flow analysis to establish relationships between flow conditions and riparian productivity within the Brazos, Guadalupe, and Trinity Rivers. Responsible for evaluating efficacy of environmental flow releases within Big Cypress and Little Cypress Bayous in Northeast Texas involving multiple habitats. I also am responsible for conducting remote sensing tasks evaluating Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula) in the South-Central Texas region and its decline in the past decade. I also conducted research along the California Region and the Channel Islands with a focus in understanding endemic species interactions and hydrogeological relationships with Eucalyptus trees. After these projects I decided to join the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) as a Project Manager in the Superfund Section – Remediation Division to conduct investigations and removal actions of highly contaminated areas within the Texas Region while performing Site Discovery Assessments, Preliminary Action and Site Investigations (PASI), and completing Pre-Cercla’s. My current research interests are eco-acoustics and bioinformatics with a focus towards application of reintroduction/conservation biology techniques to successfully restore the Texas Bobwhite Quail.

Ashley Kaskocsak
Ph.D. Graduate Student

Throughout my time at Miami University, I began my research career by working in a physiology ecology lab and focusing my first year on ways to communicate research to non-scientific audiences. First, I was involved with investigating the PPARgamma fat storage pathway in the migratory catbird. I also assisted in research studying cold-induced cardiac hypertrophy in mice and prairie voles as model organisms, where I was able to represent my lab at the 2022 Ohio Physiology Society Conference. I fell in love with fieldwork, especially working with birds, at Miami which was a major force for me choosing to work with quail. I plan to use my computing skills and knowledge of songbirds to investigate how the same environmental conditions affecting quail are harming other species. Finally, I hope to raise awareness for wildlife toxicology by relating to interdisciplinary audiences and communicating the importance of the research being conducted in our lab.

Tim Arlowe
Ph.D. Graduate Student

During my undergraduate studies at Ball State University, I was part of a wildlife research lab and continued post-graduation as a field technician assisting with projects investigating the roosting habits of northern-long eared bats and white-tailed deer range and mortality in Bloomington, IN. I also assisted the Indiana Department of Natural Resources as a deer check station technician, collecting samples for disease surveillance of chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis. In 2016, I joined the Basic Medical Sciences Department within the Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine as a laboratory technician, managing teaching specimens and served as a teaching assistant for Veterinary Nursing and DVM anatomy courses. I completed my M.S. degree in 2024 which focused on musculoskeletal adaptation of green iguanas. As a member of the Wildlife Toxicology Laboratory, I plan to continue the utilization of the Mobile Research Laboratory to monitor parasitic infections within quail populations in Texas and Oklahoma post FDA approval of the medicated feed.

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(No Bios)

Cassie Henry
Post-Doctoral Research Collaborator

Ph.D. – Environmental Toxicology, Texas Tech University, 2020 B.S. – Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, 2012

Aravindan Kalyanasundaram
Post-Doctoral Research Collaborator

Ph.D. University of Madras, India 2011 M.Sc. Biotechnology, Bharathidasan University, India 2003 B. Sc. Biochemistry, Periyar University

Jeremiah Leach
Post-Doctoral Research Collaborator

B.S. – Wildlife Biology, Texas State University, 2016 M.S. – Wildlife Ecology, Texas State University, 2019

Hannah Suber
Post-Doctoral Research Associate

B.S., Zoology, Liberty University, 2020

Henry Valencia
Ph.D. Graduate Student

B.S - Environmental Science, University of Texas at San Antonio, 2022

Ashley Kaskocsak
Ph.D. Graduate Student

B.S. - Biology, Neuroscience, Bioinformatics (minor), Miami University, 2023

Meet our Wildlife Toxicology Lab Alumni

2025

Suber, Hannah – Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology
“Managing parasitic infection in wild northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus): Further insights into helminth epidemiology and the pharmacological efficacy of an anthelmintic feed”

2024

Hames, Benjamin – M.S. in Environmental Toxicology
”Measuring heat shock protein levels as a way of determining stress caused by parasitic infection in wild northern bobwhite quail”

Leach, Jeremiah – Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology
“The effects of helminths on northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) in western Oklahoma and the use of anthelmintics to treat those populations”
Current Position: Ecotoxicologist – Global Regulatory Sciences, FMC Corp.

2021

Henry, Brett – Ph.D. Environmental Toxicology
“Evaluation of the drug residue depletion period in northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) following administration of medicated feed”
Current Position: Head of Analytical Development, Rentschler Biopharma

2020

Brym, Matthew – M.S. Biology
“An assessment of Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) prevalence and milkweed (Asclepias spp.) restoration in the Rolling Plains of West Texas”
Current Position: Biologist 2 at Smithers Laboratories

Elizalde, Cassie – Ph.D. Environmental Toxicology
Department of Environmental Toxicology, Texas Tech University
“Parasitic infection in wild northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and assessment of intermediate hosts and development of a treatment”
Current Position: Toxicologist – Biologist, United States Environmental Protection Agency

Herzog, Jessica – M.S. Environmental Toxicology
“Parasite surveys of passerine birds and northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) in the Rolling Plains Ecoregion”

2019

Blanchard, Kendall – M.S. Environmental Toxicology
“Regional surveillance and seasonal variation of eyeworm (Oxyspirura petrowi) and caecal worm (Aulonocephalus pennula) infection in northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) of Rolling Plains, TX”
Current Position: DVM/Ph.D. Student, University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine

2016

Dunham, Nick – Ph.D. Environmental Toxicology
“Field and laboratory studies on eyeworms (Oxyspirura petrowi) and their impact on the Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus)”
Current Position: Senior Regulatory Toxicologist, BASF Corp.

2015

Pappas, Sara – Ph.D. Environmental Toxicology
“The toxicity of nanomaterials to Northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus)”
Current Position: Compounding Supervisor, SC Johnson Lifestyle Brands

2013

Baxter, Catherine – M.S. Environmental Toxicology
“Analysis of organochlorine pesticides in bobwhites and scaled quail from the Rolling Plains ecoregion”