Twenty scientists, one lab.

A lot of what we do here hinges on bringing undergraduates into fundamental research earlier than most labs do. Ten of the people listed below are undergraduate researchers running their own projects, often publishing before they graduate. The list that follows covers the principal investigator, research staff, graduate students, a post-bacc, undergraduate researchers, and alumni.

Principal investigator

Heath Blackmon

Associate Professor · Opened the lab in 2017

Heath earned his PhD in 2015 from the Demuth lab at UT Arlington, where he studied the evolution of sex chromosomes and karyotypes in Coleoptera. He then completed a postdoc at the University of Minnesota with Emma Goldberg and Yaniv Brandvain, and opened the Blackmon Lab at Texas A&M in the fall of 2017. He also chairs the TAMU EEB interdisciplinary doctoral program. Curriculum Vitae · Google Scholar · ORCID · Lineage

Research staff

LT Blackmon

Founding member

Assists with fieldwork and is currently working on morphometrics of Chrysina species.

Kenzie Laird

Research tech

Responsible for model organism care. She is also working on discrete trait PCMs and Betta fish aggression. Champion archer.

Graduate students

Sean Chien

Biology PhD · Joined 2022

Broadly interested in evolutionary biology and Coleoptera. When he is not in the lab he loves fishing. Website

Megan Copeland

Biology PhD · Joined 2022

Interested in genome structure, with a background in genomics, bioinformatics, and forensics. Website

Andres Barboza Pereira

Genetics PhD · Joined 2023

Specializes in theoretical evolution and population genetics, with a focus on bioinformatics and genomics. His current research is focused on assembling scarab beetle genomes and developing computational tools to support the conservation of Chondrichthyes (sharks and rays). Website

Kaya Harper

Biology PhD · Joined 2023

Her research explores how environmental variation shapes genomic architecture, epigenetic regulation, and phenotypic plasticity across natural populations, and how evolutionary processes interact with human-driven environmental change to influence adaptation, resilience, and vulnerability under shifting climatic conditions. Outside the lab she runs, hikes, scuba dives, and explores the kinds of dynamic landscapes that inspire her work. Website

Shelbie Cast

EEB PhD · Joined 2025

Interested in the evolution and ecology of crustaceans, studying crab freshwater invasion. Google Scholar

Kiedon Bryant

Biology PhD · Joined 2025

Uses both empirical and theoretical approaches to study the behavioral ecology of fishes and the evolution of mating systems. Google Scholar

Post-bacc students

Meghann McConnell

Post-bacc · Joined 2025

Broadly interested in comparative phylogenetic approaches focused on questions about chromosome number transitions to alternative meiosis mechanisms. She is also interested in creating novel model approaches for understanding trait evolution.

Undergraduate researchers

Bella Steele

Undergraduate researcher

Working on a project focused on computational and evolutionary biology.

Sarah Schmalz

Undergraduate researcher

Senior Biology major and University Honors student interested in the intersection of evolutionary genomics and bioinformatics. Her current research focuses on extending mathematical models for sex-autosome fusions by incorporating fixation weights to better predict genomic architecture.

Emily Clark

Undergraduate researcher

Olivia Deiterman

Undergraduate researcher

Riya Girish

Undergraduate researcher

Anna Klein

Undergraduate researcher

Mallory Murphy

Undergraduate researcher

Alex Rathsack

Undergraduate researcher

Tewobola Olasehinde

Undergraduate researcher

Gabe Rodriguez

Undergraduate researcher

Alumni