Dr. Kier Klepzig
Director and Scientist
Thomas N. Sheehan
Research Associate II
Christine Favorito
Research Technician II
Christine Favorito recently graduated with her MS from UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources studying native bee communities in Georgia’s working pine forests. She is excited to explore all the insect biodiversity the Jones Center has to offer, especially the bees! Christine’s research interests include comparing bee (and other insect) diversity in different environments and also telling everybody about native bees all the time. She enjoys hiking, spending time near water, and other people’s pets. Christine also has a BS in biology from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. She has previously worked at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and served in AmeriCorps with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Hackensack Riverkeeper.
Sydney Pleak
Seasonal Research Technician
Sydney started as a seasonal technician at Ichauway in January 2023. She primarily works on the Trends in Arthropod Biodiversity Systems (TABS) long-term monitoring project, as well as assisting with a frosted elfin introduction project. After completing her bachelor’s at Indiana University in 2021, Sydney worked on an insect biodiversity survey for Fort Leonard Wood through the University of Missouri S&T in the Ozarks. In between seasonal jobs, she spends most of her time traveling, climbing, and being outside. Her future plans include grad school and figuring out a way to convince everyone why we should be eating bugs.
Graduate Students
Lab Alumni
Mary McTeague
Seasonal Research Technician
Mary is a recent graduate of Luther College with a BA in environmental science and English literature. She started working as a research technician at Ichauway in May 2022. Mary has always been fascinated by the outdoors and everything that lives there, and she became especially interested in insects after taking an undergrad entomology class. At Ichauway, she has learned a lot about arthropod activity in longleaf pine ecosystems, and she is currently looking at diel activity of insects on site. She hopes to eventually continue to study entomology in grad school. In her free time Mary enjoys hiking, reading, cooking, and spending time with her dog.
Madi Dunlap
Seasonal Research Technician
Madison Dunlap is a recent graduate from the University of Redlands with a bachelor’s degree in general biology who started as an entomology technician at Ichauway in January 2022. She has always had a particular fascination with invertebrates but her passion for insects started before her senior year of college with a summer lab internship researching insect pollinator trapping methods. She continued this project during senior year and developed a love for bees and wasps that is still strong today. After college she worked as a plant ecology technician which helped her get outside and in nature where she learned to appreciate the beautiful interaction between plants and insects. In her free time she loves to roller skate, cook, grow gourmet mushrooms, and make rugs.
Victoria Cassidy
Seasonal Research Technician
From a young age Victoria was captivated by nature, and knew she wanted to explore and work in the outdoors. Victoria graduated from Reinhardt University with a BS in biology where she played college soccer. Shortly after graduating she went on to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Victoria received her MS in forest resources at the University of Georgia studying the success of systemic insecticide treatments in reducing Nantucket pine tip moth (NPTM) infestations and damage to loblolly pine trees, the potential non-target effects from the treatments, and the phenology of NPTM. Hobbies she enjoys include hiking, helping others (especially dogs), reading, playing soccer, and listening/dancing to music.
Christopher Terrazas
Seasonal Research Technician
Riley Egan
Seasonal Research Technician
Riley graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2019 with a BS in Biology. As a native of Southwest Georgia and having interests in invertebrate ecology, Riley jumped at opportunity to join the Entomology Lab at the Jones Center in the fall of 2019. Riley is currently pursuing his MS in Environmental and Biological Sciences at Troy University where he is conducting research on the effects of impoundments and invasive crayfish on native crayfishes in the Cahaba watershed. In his free time, he likes to spend as much time outdoors as he can and enjoys kayaking, hiking, fishing, running, and playing guitar.
Stephen W. Golladay, Ph.D.
Scientist
Dr. Golladay’s interests include the ecology of streams and wetlands, the impact of human land use on water quality and aquatic invertebrates, and the impact of variation in hydrology on ecological processes and aquatic communities Recently, he has developed an interest in the ecology and conservation of rare and endangered freshwater mussel species.
Dr. Golladay has served as a technical advisor to the Sand County Foundation, Georgia EPD, DNR and Water Management districts in Florida. He has developed training activities for resource professionals in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Dr. Golladay also has assisted in the development of programs to enhance the
natural resource awareness of regional educators in cooperation with regional Georgia Youth Science and Technology.
