Faculty
Edson F. Abreu, PhD
Lab PI
Edson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at ASU and Curator of Mammals at the Angelo State Natural History Collections (ASNHC). He earned his master’s degree in 2014 and Ph.D. in 2020 from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. From 2021 to 2023, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Richard Gilder Graduate School of the American Museum of Natural History. His research focuses on mammalian evolution, systematics, taxonomy, and biogeography, with particular emphasis on Neotropical taxa.
Current Students
Kelley Simpson
Undergraduate Student
Kelley is a Natural Resource Management major at ASU. Her research involves using the Wallace software to generate species distribution models for neotropical pygmy squirrels in Amazonia. Upon her graduation, planned for 2027, she intends to pursue a Master’s degree in zoology and ultimately build a career focused on applying GIS tools to wildlife conservation.
Bethany Chapman, BSc
Master's Student
Bethany is a master’s student at ASU researching the distribution, origin, and evolution of Nectomys rattus on Marajó Island and across mainland eastern Amazonia. She is passionate about science education and returned to ASU—where she also earned her bachelor’s degree—in 2026 after teaching middle school science to further her training with the goal of becoming a professor.
Katelyn Bartlett, BSc
Master's Student
Katelyn Bartlett is a master’s student at ASU, where she is conducting her thesis research on rodent diversification in the eastern Amazon. Her research entails integrating genomic and occurrence data to analyze the population genetics of the rice rat Hylaeamys megacephalus in eastern Amazonia, with a particular focus on the Island of Marajó. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Texas A&M University. Katelyn plans to continue on to a PhD program and pursue a career as a professor.
Ross Vlcek, BSc
Master's Student
Ross is a master's student at ASU, and his research involves using camera traps to survey mammalian communities and examine mammal active patterns across sites in central Texas. He also aims to determine whether protected lands differ in their mammalian communities compared to ranching or agricultural lands. Ross is current working at the San Angelo State Park and at ASU's Management, Instruction, and Research Center (MIR).
Margaret G. Daun, BSc
Master's Student
Margaret is a master’s candidate in Biology at ASU. Her research uses Oxford Nanopore MinION adaptive sequencing to generate complete mitochondrial reference genomes for the rodent genus Oecomys. She will integrate these mitogenomes with spatial sampling across the Içá, Japurá, and Purus rivers to evaluate the riverine barrier hypothesis, assessing whether major waterways influence gene flow and population divergence. Prior to her graduate research, Margaret served as Lead Biologist and Director of Animal Care and Management of a USDA-compliant exotic animal care facility, where she oversaw regulatory representation, conservation breeding initiatives, and welfare programs for primates, felids, birds, and hoofstock.
Marcos Angelo Alves Filho, BSc
Master's Student
Marcos is a master’s student at the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo (MZUSP), Brazil, where he is co-advised by Dr. Alexandre Percequillo and Dr. Abreu. His research focuses on morphological variation in structures associated with the nasal cavity, particularly the turbinate bones, across tree squirrels of the tribe Sciurini. Marcos uses micro-computed tomography (µCT) scan data from hundreds of specimens housed in museums worldwide to investigate patterns of morphological variation and their potential taxonomic, evolutionary, and ecological significance.
Alumni
Aramide Oladiran
Undergraduate Student
Aramide is a Pre-Med Biology major who joined the lab from 2024 to 2026. In 2024, he participated in a field expedition to the Purus River in Brazil. Following this fieldwork, he analyzed small mammal trapping data from the Purus River and assisted with the molecular identification of some of the specimens collected during the expedition. He has presented his research on multiple occasions, including at the 2025 Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society South Central Regional Convention, where he was awarded Best Poster Presentation.