PHIL BARDEN - PI

Dr. Phillip Barden, originally from New Mexico and Arizona, is an evolutionary biologist interested in social insects and their fossil record. Dr. Barden received his bachelor's degree from Arizona State University, his PhD from the American Museum of Natural History, and completed his NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship at Rutgers University. He is involved in projects centered around patterns of diversity, ecological impact, and the evolution of complex behavior in some of nature’s greatest success stories: ants and termites. His uses social insects and fossil amber as systems for testing concepts related to the integration of paleontological and genetic data, as well as new analytical pipelines. [CV] [Webpage]

Gianpiero Fiorentino - PhD Candidate

Gianpiero is an NJIT PhD candidate interested in biogeography, systematics, and evolutionary relationships in ants. He completed his undergraduate degree at the National University of Colombia, studying the patterns of biodiversity of Neotropical ants using systematics and taxonomy. Through his undergraduate university he was an assistant curator at the Institute of Natural Sciences. Gianpiero is a proud Latino and is currently leading an initiative in Colombia focused on engaging scientific learning in rural indigenous communities in the Amazon and the Pacific. Throughout his time at the lab, Gianpiero has led research focused on the biogeographic patterns of species distribution through deep time, focusing on islands. With his passion for teaching he hopes to one day become a university professor and to continue working towards encouraging diversity and inclusion in STEM. He can be reached at gf6 [at] njit.edu & gpfiorentinoc [at] unal.edu.co. [Webpage]

Claire Bailey - PHD Student

Claire is a current PhD student at NJIT interested in ecology, evolution, and behavior, with a focus on eusocial organisms. She is originally from Mississippi and has earned a Bachelor of Science in Integrative Organismal Biology from Auburn University. Claire is a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, and she has previously worked on three-dimensional honey bee nest architecture and animal behavior at the Smith Bee Lab. At NJIT, she intends to study the only marine example of eusociality found in the Synalpheus genus of snapping shrimp. She can be reached at cb489 [at] njit.edu.

shrimps is bugs

Roxy Nadim - PhD Student

Roxy is a current NJIT PhD student interested in the intersection of behavior, communication, and decision-making in social organisms. As an undergraduate and laboratory technician, she worked on neuroscience and comparative anatomy in vertebrate systems. During COVID-19, she completed her bachelor's degree in biochemistry and began teaching computer science at a Brooklyn private middle school. Roxy plans on integrating her prior coding experience into future projects to create predictive models of collective behavior. She hopes to become a professor and create new outreach programs for students in Newark, NJ. In her free time, she enjoys terrarium building and fossil hunting. She can be reached at rin3 [at] njit.edu.

Luke Bitting – Undergraduate Researcher

Luke is a second-year undergraduate pursuing a B.A. in Biology and a minor in chemistry. Originally from Pennsylvania, Luke enrolled in NJIT as a member of the Albert Dorman Honors College. Currently, Luke is working on an independent project to examine the morphology and evolutionary history of the Thaumatomyrmex genus within Hispaniola. Prior to his time at NJIT, Luke gained laboratory experience through a lab-intensive biotechnology course, where he performed analytical experiments on cells and biological molecules. This also served to solidify his interests in research. Outside of the lab, Luke is involved with the Society of Musical Arts as members of the wind ensemble and jazz band. Luke is considering pursuing a PhD and plans to be involved in more biological research in the future. He can be contacted at lrb24 [at] njit.edu.

Roma Patel – Undergraduate Researcher

Roma is a pre-med second-year undergraduate student majoring in Biology with a concentration in Neurobiology and a minor in Psychology and Chemistry. She started her academic career at NJIT in the Albert Dorman Honors College. She joined the lab in the summer of 2023 and assisted in the 3D reconstruction of ants in amber through micro-CT scans. She is interested in the connection between neurobiology, behavior, and different animals and hopes to explore that through her lab work. Outside of school and the lab, she has been dancing for over a decade, specifically classical Bharatnatyam. Additionally, she advocates for minorities in healthcare pertaining to healthcare through social media. She does this through the organization “Colors for Coats” and her role as a co-director of communication. She also works as a medical scribe at an ambulatory surgery center to gain exposure to different fields in healthcare such as pain management, neurology, and orthopedics. She can be reached at rap26 [at] njit.edu .

Saskia Trommelen – Undergraduate Researcher

Saskia is a second year undergraduate pursuing a double major B.S. in Biology and Math with a minor in Philosophy and Applied Ethics at NJIT. She joined the lab in February 2023 because of her interest in morphology and genetics. Currently, Saskia has been using 3D slicer to work on modeling micro-CT scans of ants in amber and Synalpheus shrimp. As a pre-med student hoping to specialize in genetics, Saskia hopes to explore connections between genetics and her current lab work. Outside of the lab, she is a performer in the NJIT concert-band as well as the theater program. She loves music, is part of the Radio Club WJTB at NJIT, and is a video game enthusiast. She is also CSLA representative in the NJIT Undergraduate Student Senate serving on the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs committees. Beyond her senate responsibilities, Saskia is Vice President of Equity and Belonging in her sorority and is currently a probationary EMT as she is in training for her certification. She can be reached at smt63 [at] njit.edu.

Brock Shahinian – Undergraduate Researcher

Hannah is a second-year environmental science major interested in pursuing a B.Sc. in environmental sciences or biology, and is also pursuing a statistics minor. He is originally from New Jersey and chose NJIT for its research opportunities, attending on the Albert Dorman Honors College Scholarship. He currently works in the Urban Ecology lab at NJIT, where he is sampling plant morphometrics and compiling a survey of all plant biodiversity on campus, with the eventual goal of increasing campus biodiversity. Additionally, he volunteers as a stream quality monitor for the nonprofit Raritan Headwaters, assessing stream health through chemical analyses and surveys of macroinvertebrate bioindicator species. In summer 2023, he participated in the NJIT BioSMART REU, uncovering mercury sorption behavior in two species of bacteria that could be used in mercury bioremediation. In the lab, he works with modern and amber ant samples from the Dominican Republic, helping evaluate morphological change over time within the Pheidole ant genus on Hispaniola. Brock may be reached at hrs4 [at] njit.edu.