Ph.D. – Environmental Toxicology, Texas Tech University, 2020
B.S. – Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, 2012
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.
Ph.D. University of Madras, India 2011
M.Sc. Biotechnology, Bharathidasan University, India 2003
B. Sc. Biochemistry, Periyar University, India 2001
M.Sc. Biotechnology, Bharathidasan University, India 2003
B. Sc. Biochemistry, Periyar University, India 2001
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.
B.S. -Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, 2012
I am currently working on Monarch butterfly studies in the Department of Biology under the direction of Dr. Ron Kendall.
Prior to coming to Texas Tech University, I worked with the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research unit on an avian behavioral ecology and site-specific hunter participation project. Hunter effort and harvest information was assessed through the use of interviews and quantitative analysis, while telemetry and GPS tracking reflected how this hunting pressure could potentially influence ringnecked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) home range selection. My research interests include potential benefits derived from the interdependence of hunters and game species; and the roles hunters, land owners, and land managers play in conservation and resolving local environmental concerns
Nick is currently pursuing a degree in Biology in the College of Arts & Sciences at Texas Tech University.
M.S. Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University 2016
B.S. Biochemistry, Middle Tennessee State University 2013
My Master’s research was focused in two parts, on the purification of the enzyme purine nucleoside phosphorylase from bovine liver using protein liquid chromatography techniques, and the characterization of that enzyme through substrate specificity studies, enzymatic velocity studies and the determination of the enzyme’s kinetic mechanism. Additionally, I worked as an associate scientist in Downstream Process Development in Biologics at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Devens, Massachusetts.``
M.S. – Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2018
B.S. – Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2015
Before joining the Wildlife Toxicology Lab at Texas Tech, I completed my Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. During my Master’s, I studied avian haemosporidia in Cattle Egrets and their historic global expansion. In between my Bachelor’s and Master’s, I spent a year working as a research technician where I worked on a variety of projects including EHD in white-tail deer, Trypanosoma spp. in Guineafowl, disease and genetics of rodents in Eswatini, meso carnivore land use in Eswatini, and tick-borne pathogens of cattle and Florida wildlife. During my undergraduate, I studied giraffe genetics of two isolated populations, life history of rodents in lowveld savanna habitat, and the use of weevils as a biocontrol agent for Brazilian peppertree. My research interests include avian ecology, landscape ecology, and the impacts of disease on wildlife.
B.S. – Wildlife Biology, Texas State University, 2016
M.S. – Wildlife Ecology, Texas State University, 2019
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.
