Gillian Bergmann, PhD student in the Ecology Graduate Group (NSF Graduate Research Fellow, UC Davis Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Fellow)
co-advised by Johan Leveau
twitter/instagram: @ingrid_blv426
website: gebergmann.weebly.com
Gillian is an ecologist interested in seed microbial community assembly. As an undergraduate at Oregon State University (OSU), she characterized the fungal communities of Douglas-fir seeds from throughout the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand. She went on to work as a lab technician at OSU, characterizing the wood fungal communities of Populus trichocarpa and assisting on various projects in the greenhouse and the field. As a PhD student at UC Davis, Gillian is investigating the spatial and temporal processes involved in microbial transmission from flowers to seeds. Her long-term goal is to apply a metacommunity framework to studying seed microbial community assembly across scales, with interests in plant-pollinator-microbe interactions and consequences for young plant health. Outside of science, she enjoys riding and racing her bike, baking, traveling, and spending time with her husband and cat.
Shawn Christensen, Postdoctoral Scholar
Email: smchristensen ‘at’ ucdavis ‘dot’ edu
Twitter: @pollenmicrobes
Shawn is an evolutionary biologist turned microbiologist, broadly interested in microbial interactions/symbioses with plant-pollinator systems, weird evolutionary traits, and crosswords. They obtained a BS from University of Wisconsin-Madison in Evolutionary Biology, where they did research on reducing ecological impacts of phosphorus runoff, ethnobotany and domestication traits in Brassica rapa, botanical field excursions of all kinds, and the evolution of chemical sets in the early origins of life. In the Vannette lab, Shawn is currently studying nectar-dwelling Acinetobacter and other nectar microbes and their potential influences on pollen for nutrient procurement, as well as the metabolomics of solitary bee pollen provisions.
Lexie Martin, PhD Candidate in the Entomology Graduate group
Email: lexmartin ‘at’ ucdavis ‘dot’ edu
Website: https://entomolexie.wordpress.com/
Lexie is an entomology PhD candidate interested in the impact of microbes on bee health. She received a BS in Biology (focus evolution, ecology, and behavior) and a BSA in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. As an undergraduate, she investigated the spatial distribution of bacteria within the guts of bumblebees and the gut microbiota of the Mexican honey wasp. In the Vannette Lab, she studies how microbes acquired socially and environmentally affect the health of bumblebees and blue orchard bees.
Dino Sbardellati, PhD Candidate in the Microbiology Graduate Group
email: dlsbardellati ‘at’ ucdavis ‘dot’ edu
Dino is a microbiologist interested in understanding how microbial ecology shapes macroscale ecology. He received a BA in biology from Sonoma State University and an MS in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin Madison. Dino has worked on projects exploring how reintroduced Tule elk modulate terrestrial arthropod populations, how antibiotic treatment impacts gut microbial communities in Passalid beetles, and how diet effects bovine rumen microbial communities. In the Vannette lab, Dino’s work deals with studying the bacteriophage (viruses which target bacteria) communities associated with the bumble bee gut and how phages shape gut microbial communities. In his spare time Dino enjoys catching, pinning, and drawing insects, cooking pizza, and making art.
Rachel L. Vannette 
email: rlvannette ‘at’ ucdavis ‘dot’ edu
Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis
Rachel is an ecologist interested in how microbes mediate species interactions. After completing her PhD at the University of Michigan with Mark Hunter, she spent time as a postdoc at Stanford with Tadashi Fukami. As faculty at UC Davis, work in her lab focuses on interactions between insects, plants and microbial communities using a wide diversity of techniques. Outside of the lab, she enjoys running, hiking, baking and spending time with her family and dog.
Awards: UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow 2023-2027; NSF CAREER Awardee 2019-2024; Hellman Fellow 2019; Life Sciences Research Fellow 2012-2015
Undergraduates in the lab
Helen Noroian: Helen is working with Lexie and Rachel on projects related to bee-microbe interactions and microbial community assembly in nectar.
Arin Mehra: Arin is working with Dino on projects related to bee-microbiome-phage interactions.
Lab photos:
July 2024 Lab Retreat at Point Reyes (partial group with a few extras!)
Partial lab group, summer 2018
(L to R: Allie Igwe, Ash Zemenick, Robert Schaeffer, Rachel Vannette, Honey Pathak and Imade Ojo)
Lab photo, Summer 2016
(L to R: Tim Rei, Chela Owens, Rachel Vannette, Ariana Nagainis, Megan Morris, Griffin Hall and Allie Igwe)
Previous affiliates
Danielle Rutkowski, PhD, Entomology 
Graduate Group
Danielle studied how bumble bees interact with the microbes, particularly fungi, in their environment, and how these relationships impact bee health. She is an NSF PRFB recipient and is currently examining yeast metabolites and their effects on bee-yeast interactions at Iowa State University with Dr. Crowley-Gall.
Leta Landucci, Jr. Specialist
Leta obtained a BS from the University of Wisconsin. As a member of the Vannette lab, 
Leta is studying how the production of peroxides secreted by nectarin proteins in floral nectar shapes microbial growth in nectar. She also aims to understand how this chemistry varies across plant species and influences pollinator-plant-microbe interactions. Leta was a NSF Postbaccalaureate Research Trainee in the lab from Sept 2022-Sept 2023. Leta is starting as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in fall 2024.
Jacob Cecala, Staff Research Associate and Postdoc 2021-2024
Jake Cecala is a community ecologist interested in wild, native bee species and their interactions with cultivated plants in urban and agricultural areas. For his doctoral work, he investigated how commercial plant nurseries in California function as habitats for wild bees. As a member of the Vannette lab, Jake studied how insecticides and drought interact to affect floral microbial communities and crop pollination. He is currently an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow in Urban Forestry. His Google Scholar page.
Jacob Francis, Postdoctoral researcher 2020-2023
B.S: University of North Carolina at Asheville, Ph.D. :University of Nevada Reno
In the Vannette lab Jake explored the intersection of plant, pollinator, and microbial ecology with a focus on how floral traits mediate these interactions. Jake is currently an Assistant Professor at Florida Atlantic University.
Amber Crowley-Gall, USDA Postdoctoral Fellow 2019-2023; 2023-current Assistant Professor at Iowa State University
Amber is a chemical ecologist with an interest in understanding the role of sensory systems in insect host choice. Her work at UC Davis focused on microbial competition dynamics involving orchard pathogens and mVOC effects on insect behavior.
M
arshall McMunn, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow; 2018-2020; USDA Postdoctoral Fellow 2020-2022
Marshall studied turtle ants and sunflower microbes (among other things) during his postdoctoral studies in the Vannette lab. He applied his statistical and coding expertise at the California Department of Justice and is now an Assistant Professor of Teaching at UC Davis.
Tobias Mueller, Junior specialist (2019-2021).
2021-current: Graduate student at Cornell Entomology, recipient of NSF GRFP
Alexandria Igwe, PhD Microbiology Graduate Group (2020)
2015-2020: PhD student in the Microbiology Graduate Group
2020-current: NSF Postdoctoral Fellow with Michelle Afkhami at the University of Miami, Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech
Megan Morris, JDPE student from Liz Dinsdale’s lab at San Diego State University Vannette lab 2015-2016
2018-2020: Postdoc at Stanford University
2020-2023: Postdoc at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Current: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-morris-394160140/
Griffin Hall, junior specialist 2015-2017
Bachelor’s degree, UC Davis, 2015
Current: https://www.linkedin.com/in/griffin-hall-8b1657148/
Robert Schaeffer, USDA ELI Postdoctoral Fellow 2016-2018
Assistant Professor at Utah State University
co-advised by R. Vannette, D. Crowder, N. Williams and T. Fukami
Ivan Munkres, junior specialist 2018-2019
Bachelor’s degree UC Davis 2018
2021-current, Graduate student at College of William and Mary
Current: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-munkres-b54830149/
Casie Lee, 2017 STAR (Students Training in Advanced Research) Program student.
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, DVM Candidate, Class of 2020, co-advised with Lisa Tell. Current: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casie-lee-12a2a2156/
Rachel Dutch, Master’s student in Avian Sciences, co-advised by Lisa Tell.
Current: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-dutch-935509163/
Madeline Handy
Madeline (Maddie) Handy joined the Vannette Lab as part of the Research Scholars Program in Insect Biology. In the Vannette lab, Maddie’s research focused on the Carpenter bee microbiome. She is now pursuing a master’s in public health. Current: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelinehandy/
Previous undergraduate researchers in the Vannette lab:
Ariana Nagainis (Spring 2016-Fall 2016)
Chela Owens (Spring 2016)
Tim Rei (2016-2017)
Wendy Melendez (2016-2017)
Cody Kiniry (2017-2018)
Anthony Chan (2017-2018)
John Duque (2017-2018)
Isabelle Maalouf (2017-2019)
Honey Pathak (2017-2019)
Eliza Litsey (2018-2019)
Garrett Keating (2018-2020)
Dani Virdier (2019)
Jeselle-Ann Laxa (2019-2020)
Gigi Melone (2020)
Robert Montoya (summer 2021, EEREC REU)
Michael Yu (summer 2021, EEREC REU)
Douglas Perry (2020-2021)
Kt Lynch: (2021-2023)
Anoushka Basu: (2022-2023)
Sriram Srinivas: (2022-2023)
Nicole Flores (summer 2024, mentored by Lexie Martin)
Amy Hazemoto (spring/summer 2024): Amy worked with Danielle on projects related to bee-microbial interactions and fungicide effects on bee-associated yeasts.
High School Student Affiliates
Almas Khan (2018-2019)