Behavioral
Disease ecology
PrincipAL Investigator: Nick Keiser
622 Carr Hall
Department of Biology
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611
Email: ckeiser [at] ufl [dot] edu
Nick is a behavioral ecologist that studies infectious diseases. In general, he is interested in spiders, flies, and their parasites, though his students have taken the lab's research in countless more directions. He also spends much time watching monster movies, reading sword & sorcery paperbacks, juggling, and listening to heavy metal.
Eric Trotman
PhD Candidate
email: eric.trotman [at] ufl.edu
Eric studies how multi-host parasites affect the behavior of intermediate hosts using a One Health framework. He has conducted field work in Florida and Barbados to study the Giant African Land Snail and its nematode parasite Angiostrogylus cantonensis. Eric combines behavioral assays with field studies and molecular diagnostic tools to assess the interrelated dynamics of animal behavior, the environment, and host-parasite interactions.
Anngelyk La Luz Maldonado
PhD Student
email: laluzmalanngelyk [at] ufl.edu
Anngelyk joined the lab in 2024 and studies fungal parasites of spiders with a focus on parasite manipulation of host behavior. She uses observational and experimental techniques to study the specialist araneopathogen Gibellula.
Sanjana Hegde
PhD Student
email: hegde.sanjana [at] ufl.edu
Sanjana joined the lab in 2025 and is interested in host-pathogen coevolution. She will be working on venom-associated microbes in spiders.
Sierra Smith
Postdoctoral Researcher
email: smith.sierra [at] ufl.edu
Sierra is a postdoctoral researcher with broad research interests in functional genomics, venom evolution, and host-associated microbial communities (i.e., microbiomes). She earned her B.S. in biology and Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Oklahoma where she studied the host-associated and environmental factors that contribute to variation in the microbiomes of reptiles and amphibians. She conducted her first postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Texas Arlington where she studied venom evolution in snakes. Now, Sierra is merging her expertise in functional genomics and microbiomes to explore the impact of sociality on venom toxicity and microbiome diversity among spiders in the genus Stegodyphus. In her free time, you can find Sierra in the yoga studio, on the trail, or cooking new recipes.
Abigail Pope
Undergraduate researcher working on the behavioral and environmental aspects of arthropod vectors of disease.
Sloane Murphy
Undergraduate researcher interested in vector borne diseases and medical geography.
Kamili Henry
Undergraduate researcher working with the SPDR Collection and the effects of fungal infection on spider behavior.
Devin Travers
Undergraduate researcher interested in spider behavior and ecology.
LAB ALUMNI
Travis Klee, PhD
PhD Student graduated 2024
Travis is co-advised by Dr. Colette St. Mary.
Dissertation title: Reciprocal phenotypic plasticity: Exploring the effects of predator behavioral plasticity in predator-prey interactions using empirical and theoretical approaches.
Samantha Shablin
MSc Student graduated 2023
Thesis Title: Assessing the interconnected behavioral and physiological underpinnings of host responses to infection.
Sofia Valencia
Former undergraduate researcher. Currently in medical school.
Ayana Davis
Former undergraduate researcher.
Currently working at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.
Elise Richardson, PhD
MSc Student graduated 2021
Thesis Title: A multi-scale assessment of the effects on pathogen infection on tick host-seeking behavior.
Steven Cassidy, PhD
PhD student graduated 2025
Dissertation title: Polydomy in a Social Spider: Consequences of Colony Fragmentation for Stegodyphus dumicola Behavioral, Disease, and Trophic Ecology.
Katie Van Havel
MSc Student graduated 2024
Thesis title: Testing the Fear Generalization Hypothesis in the Field Wolf Spider, Hogna Lenta (Araneae: Lycosidae)
collaboratORs
Tim Colston, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez
Tim is a herpetologist by training, but his research integrates biogeography, evolutionary ecology, and host-microbiome interactions. We are currently collaborating on a project focusing on venom evolution and venom-associated microbiomes in social spiders.
Initiative for Venom Associated Microbes and Parasites (iVAMP)
iVAMP is a collaborative, open-source group of researchers worldwide of all career stages and types with the shared interest to expand the reach of each other’s work as well as the direction of the field of venom microbiomics.
PDF of our first paper describing the field of venom microbiomics and introducing iVAMP.
Former undergraduates
Yinlu Zhu
University of
Florida
Emily Stone
University of
Florida
Brittney Jabot
University of
Florida
Alex Piriz
Nick Dolezal
Joshua Vildor
Samantha Stein
Dylan Vega
Gloria Johnson
University of
Florida
Arletys Leyva
University of
Florida
Michael Ziemba
University of
Pittsburgh
Krishna Kothamasu
University of
Pittsburgh
Emma Every
Rice University
Anu Dwarampudi
Rice University
Tram-Anh Tran
University of
Florida
Imani Butler
Rice University
Celina Tran
Rice University
Haley Uustal
Rice University
Evan Shegog
Rice University
Lizzy Sartain
Rice University
visiting students
Mathew Luksik
University of Virginia
Class of 2022
Iclal Yuksel
University of Houston
Class of 2020
Andrew Luksik
University of Virginia
Class of 2027