{"id":18,"date":"2016-01-26T13:04:45","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T21:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-kraft\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2025-11-11T13:19:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:19:32","slug":"lab-members","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-kraft\/lab-members\/","title":{"rendered":"Lab Members"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

November 2025 in the Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden (L-R): Nathan Kraft, Kami Schneider, Maya Sagarin, Alex Cisneros Carey, Maia Supple, Henri Searles, Lauren Glevanik, Zhenfei Li.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\nAlexandra Cisneros Carey (she\/they)<\/p>\n

Ph.D. student<\/p>\n

Email: alcisneroscarey@g.ucla.edu<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/td>\nHenri Searles<\/p>\n

M.S. student<\/p>\n

Email: hsearles2@g.ucla.edu<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/td>\nKami Schneider<\/p>\n

M.S. student<\/p>\n

Email: kmschneider@g.ucla.edu<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
Lauren Glevanik (she\/her)<\/p>\n

Ph.D. candidate<\/p>\n

email: lglevanik@g.ucla.edu<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/td>\nMaia Supple<\/p>\n

Ph.D. student (joint with Lawren Sack)<\/p>\n

Email: msupple@g.ucla.edu<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/td>\nMaya Sagarin (she\/her)<\/p>\n

Ph.D. student<\/p>\n

Email: msagarin@g.ucla.edu<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/td>\n		Nathan Kraft <\/a>(he\/him)<\/p>\n

Professor<\/p>\n

email: nkraft@ucla.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

phone:\u00a0(310) 825-3593<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Alumni- UCLA<\/h1>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Graduate Students<\/td>\nDr. Ian McFadden<\/a> PhD in 2019: \u2018Separating the effects of multiple processes on diversity patterns in an Amazonian tree <\/em><\/span>community and the New World flora<\/em>\u2019. <\/span>(currently group leader\/ lecturer, Queen Mary University of London, UK )<\/p>\n

Dr. Gaurav Kandlikar<\/a> PhD in 2020: ‘Quantifying the effects of spatial environmental variation and soil microbes on plant community dynamics<\/em>‘. <\/span>(currently Assistant Professor, Dept. Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University)<\/p>\n

Dr. Marcel Vaz<\/a> PhD in 2021: ‘Trait-mediated coexistence in a hyperdiverse tropical forest, or, Why are there so many kinds of trees in the Central Amazon?<\/em>‘. (currently postdoctoral researcher at Wilkes University)<\/p>\n

Jordan Yanowitz MS in 2023: ‘Microbial Communities and Vegetation Change: An Unseen Driver?<\/em>‘.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Mary Van Dyke<\/a> PhD in 2023: ‘The effects of temporal variation in precipitation on plant coexistence in an annual grassland community<\/em>.’ (currently postdoctoral researcher, Colorado State University)<\/p>\n

Dr. Kenji Hayashi<\/a> PhD in 2025: ‘Causes and consequences of competition in spatially variable environments for plant coexistence and distributions: a study with California annual plants’\u00a0<\/em>(currently postdoctoral research, Rice University)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Postdocs<\/td>\nDr. Lei Chen 2015-2016 (now full professor<\/a>, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences)<\/p>\n

Dr. Claire Fortunel 2013-2016 (now a Research Scientist<\/a> at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development)<\/p>\n

Dr. Andrew Kleinhesselink<\/a> 2017-2020 (now Managing Director of Sage Hill, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA)<\/p>\n

Dr. Hannah Carroll 2020-2023. IRACDA<\/a> Postdoctoral Fellow, co-mentored with Dr. Aradhna Tripati<\/a>, EPSS. (now an Assistant Professor<\/a>, Western Colorado University)<\/p>\n

Dr. Samantha Catella, 2021-2023. La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science<\/a> Postdoctoral Fellow (co-mentored with Dr. Sophie Parker,<\/a> The Nature Conservancy)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Research Techs<\/td>\nHaylee Oyler, 2021-2024. (went on to graduate school in Environmental Science and Management, USCB; now at NCEAS).<\/p>\n

Suzanne Ou, 2017-2018 (went on to PhD in Biology, Peay Lab, Stanford)<\/p>\n

Mary Van Dyke, 2016-2017 (went on to PhD in EEB, Kraft Lab, UCLA)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Undergraduate Researchers<\/td>\n\n

Clare Camilleri (2016-2017), Grace Kumaishi<\/a> (2016-2017), Vivian Griffey (2016-2017), Angela Chen (2016), Bastien Dehault<\/a> (2017), Jennifer Tran (2017), Aoife Galvin (2017), Xinyi Yan<\/a> (2017-2020), Megan Clark (2017-2019), Anmol Dhaliwal (2017-2020), Heather Lindsey<\/a> (2017-2019), Brooke Shimasaki (2017-2018), Erick Yeh (2017), Cindy Nguyen (2018), Jeff Lee (2018-2019), Jonathan Shi (2018-2019), Kuimars Edalati (2019-2020), Leontyne Henderson (2019-2020), Jordan Yanowitz (2019-2021), Jiahui Li (2020-2021), Timothy Foster (2020-2021), Magdalene Lo (2020), Celina Nishioka (2020), Leah Andino (2020), Ian Morris (2021-2022), Carly Pomeroy (2021), Abita Venkatesh (2021), Levy Lidor (2021), Jinsuh Jung-Aum (2021-2022), Julie Yang (2021-2023), Amelia Chiang (2022-2023), Jagveer Gill (2022-2023), Soline Grimbert (2022), Fidel Negrete (2022-2023), Andrew Rice (2022-2023), Chudi Onyedika (2023), Jessica Echarte (2023), Hannah Gray (2023-2024), Maddie McEwan (2023-2024), Saba Saei (2023), Natalie Keung (2024), Jasmine Ryan (2024), Lily Anderson (2024-2025), Genelle Marcelino-Sears (2024-2025), Aaron Wu (2024-2025), Noah Kamps (2025), Luke Smith (2025), Jalen Austria (2025).<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Visiting Scholars<\/td>\nAubrie James (Ph.D. student, Geber Lab, Cornell University) 2017<\/p>\n

Dr. Yi Ding (Professor<\/a>,\u00a0Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, China), 2017<\/p>\n

Dr. Milton de Souza Mendon\u00e7a Jr.\u00a0(Professor<\/a>, UFGRS, Brazil), 2019-2020<\/p>\n

Dr. Bill Hoffman (Professor,<\/a> North Carolina State University). 2019<\/p>\n

Zhenfi Li (Ph.D. student, Zhejiang University) 2024-present<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Alumni- University of Maryland<\/h1>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Postdocs<\/td>\nDr. Kristen Powell (SESYNC postdoctoral fellow) 2013-2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Visiting Scholars<\/td>\nDr. Benoit Parmentier (postdoc, McGill Lab, U Maine) 2014-2015<\/p>\n

Dr. Rong Li (Associate Prof., Kunming Institute of Botany) 2013-2014<\/p>\n

Marcos Carlucci (Ph.D. student, Duarte Lab, UFRGS, Brazil) 2014<\/p>\n

Cristina Bastias (Ph.D. Student, Valladares Lab,\u00a0Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Spain) 2014<\/p>\n

Dr. Jeanne Osnas (postdoc, Lichstein Lab, U Florida) 2012-2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Undergraduate Researchers<\/td>\nSamantha Cruz (2014), Cara Heilveil (2015), Ali Sanz (2015).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Previous Lab Photos<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

March 2025 in the Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden (L-R): Zhenfi Li, Jalen Austria, Aaron Wu, Noah Kamps, Lily Anderson, Nathan Kraft, Maya Sagarin, Kenji Hayashi, Kami Schneider, Alexandra Cisneros Carey, \u00a0Lauren Glevanik. Not pictured: Genelle Marcelino-Searles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

May 2023 in the Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden (L-R): Kenji Hayashi, Haylee Oyler, Mary Van Dyke, Nathan Kraft, Samantha Catella, Lauren Glevanik, Jordan Yanowitz.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

June 2019 in the Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden (L-R): Kiumars Edalati, Jonathan Shi, Kenji Hayashi, Marcel Vaz, Mary Van Dyke, Heather Lindsay, Anmol Dhaliwal, Nathan Kraft, Megan Clark, Xinyi Yan, Gaurav Kandlikar.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Winter 2017: Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden, UCLA: Yi Ding, Bastien Dehaudt, Gaurav Kandlikar, Andrew Kleinhesselink, Mary Van Dyke, Ian McFadden, Claire Fortunel, Aubrie James, Clare Camilleri, Marcel Vaz, Nathan Kraft.\"IMG_3823<\/p>\n

Fall 2015 Lab Retreat, W. Virginia: Nathan, Ian, Marcel, Lei, Gaurav, Claire<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0103\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fall 2014- W. Virginia: Kristin Powell, Nathan Kraft, Claire Fortunel, Marcos Carlucci, Ian McFadden, Rong Li.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 2025 in the Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden (L-R): Nathan Kraft, Kami Schneider, Maya Sagarin, Alex Cisneros Carey, Maia Supple, Henri Searles, Lauren Glevanik, Zhenfei Li. Alexandra Cisneros Carey (she\/they) Ph.D. student Email: alcisneroscarey@g.ucla.edu Henri Searles M.S. student Email: hsearles2@g.ucla.edu Kami Schneider M.S. student Email: kmschneider@g.ucla.edu Lauren Glevanik (she\/her) Ph.D. candidate email: lglevanik@g.ucla.edu Maia Supple … <\/p>\n

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