Laboratory of Michael Brewer, Ph.D.

Research Project: Evolutionary Relationships of Assassin Flies

Assassin flies are a diverse family of venomous, predatory insects. This project seeks to describe the biodiversity and elucidate the evolutionary relationships of this understudied group.
Depending on their individual skills/interests, students will have the opportunity to learn basic entomology, museum curation, taxonomy, specimen photography, phylogenetic analysis, database management, bioinformatics, field-based collecting, and molecular techniques.

Interested students should email Chris Cohen at cohench15@students.ecu.edu and attach their CV and a brief statement describing their research interests and career goals. Foreign language fluency is desired (especially Russian or German) but not required.

Venom Biology of ground-hunting spiders

I am currently looking for motivated undergraduate students to assist with research involving the molecular evolution of spider venom proteins. I work with a fascinating group of ground-hunting spiders in the Ctenidae family that lives in the southeastern U.S. These spiders are themselves are not toxic to humans, but they are close relatives to the highly toxic Brazilian Armed Spider (Phoneutria nigriventer). The goal of my research is to describe the venom composition as well as basic venom biology and venom biogeography of these spiders. Students involved in this research will have an opportunity to gain experience with interdisciplinary techniques ranging from bioinformatics analysis, venom extraction, transcriptomics using Next Generation Sequencing, proteomics using Mass Spectrometry, toxicity assays, behavioral experiments, phylogenetics, as well as arachnological sampling techniques.

Interested students are encouraged to contact Jeff Cole with a brief statement of intent via email at coleti16@students.ecu.edu