Richards lab at Satellite Beach, May 2026
Christina Richards received her BA in Biology at Swarthmore College in 1995 and PhD in Botany from the University of Georgia in 2004. She worked with Massimo Pigliucci at Stony Brook University (2004-2006) and then with Michael Purugganan at New York University (2007-2009) as a post-doctoral fellow. She is an Associate Professor in Integrative Biology at USF in Tampa and since moving to USF she has worked with Professor Malika Ainouche at the University of Rennes 1 as a Fulbright Scholar in France (2016-2017) and is now a Make Our Planet Great Again scholar in Germany at University of Tübingen. Christina’s primary research interests are understanding mechanisms of plant response to novel, stressful or changing environments.
Graduate students
Lauren Walling started in the Richards lab in Fall 2020 and is co-advised by Dr. John Parkinson. She studied DNA methylation in deep-sea Octocorals for her Masters at University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Now, she is working on how changes to the epigenome of a holobiont is affected by different environmental factors, such as temperature or pH for her PhD research.
Bethany Burns started in the Richards lab in Fall 2023. She studied orchids at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, FL during her Bachelor’s at University of Tampa and is interested in plant-microbiome interactions in the context of global change for her PhD research.
Jessica Bains started in the Richards lab in Fall 2025. She is ultimately interested in space botany and focusing on plant-microbe interactions in response to bioreactor effluent for her PhD research.
Yuliya Rudkouskaya started in the Richards lab in Fall 2025 and is co-advised by Dr. Brian Maitner. She is a Fulbright Masters student visiting from Belarus. She is interested in the association between climate change and invasive species, and understanding how information on distribution of invasives from neighboring countries can inform predictions for impacts on Belarus.
Post doctoral fellows
Dr. Ramona Irimia received her PhD from University of Coimbra in Portugal in 2020. She is working on evolutionary ecology of the native and invasive knotweeds as part of the MOPGA project “Genomics and epigenomics of plant invasions” funded by the German BMBF and the DFG/NSF-C project “Evolution of plant defenses during a plant invasion”.
Dr. Madalin Parepa received his PhD at the University of Bern, Switzerland in 2012. He is working on evolutionary ecology of the native and invasive knotweeds as part of the MOPGA project “Genomics and epigenomics of plant invasions” funded by the German BMBF and the DFG/NSF-C project “Evolution of plant defenses during a plant invasion”. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Madalin_Parepa
Dr. Isolde van Riemsdijk received her PhD from Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the Netherlands in 2019. She is developing genomics techniques to evaluate native and invasive knotweeds as part of the MOPGA project “Genomics and epigenomics of plant invasions” funded by the German BMBF and the DFG/NSF-C project “Evolution of plant defenses during a plant invasion”. https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=inA6psoAAAAJ
Alumni
Dr. Armand Cavé-Radet received his PhD at the Université de Rennes 1 in 2019. He worked on whole genome sequencing of Reynouttria multiflora and reference transcriptomes for Reynoutria spp as part of the MOPGA project “Genomics and epigenomics of plant invasions” funded by the German BMBF and the DFG/NSF-C project “Evolution of plant defenses during a plant invasion”.
Dr. Nancy Sheridan started in the Richards lab in Fall 2014 while also working full time as the southwest regional biologist for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Division of Marine Fisheries. She completed her PhD in Summer 2022 co-advised by Richards & Associate professor Aaron Schrey, (Georgia Southern). She studies the population genetics. of the giant Caribbean sea anemone (Condylactis gigantea) in Florida and across the Caribbean. She continues in her position at FWC.
Dr. Arig Ibrahim Hashim was a cancer doctor doing research at Moffitt Cancer Center when she joined the Richards lab in 2018. She completed her PhD in Fall 2021 co-advised by Richards & Professor Joel Brown (UIC & Moffitt). She is interested in the role of epigenomics in ecology and evolution and how this informs diagnosis and treatment of cancers. She is now an Assistant Professor at Sohar University.
Dr. Jeannie Mounger joined the Richards lab as an undergraduate researcher in Spring 2015, participated in an I-REU to Brazil in summer 2015, and completed her PhD in Fall 2021. She is interested in ecological genomics of non-model plant species. She is now a Plant Biologist & Field Applications Scientist at Oxford Nanopore Technologies. (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Dm-nZJgAAAAJ&hl=en)
Teresa Boquete received her PhD from University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain in 2015 and was a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Researcher in the Richards lab and Carlos Herrera’s lab in the Estación Biológica de Doñana- CSIC, Spain from 2016-2019. She is now a Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=5DMK-tMAAAAJ).
Sandra Voors joined the Richards lab as an undergraduate Honors researcher in 2012, she finished her Honors thesis in Spring 2015, an I-REU to Brazil in summer 2015, and her Master's in collaboration with the Lewis lab in Spring 2018. She is interested in ecosystem genomics in salt marsh and mangrove systems and now works with South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) in Orlando as an "Environmental Analyst".
Kristen Langanke joined the Richards lab as an undergraduate researcher in 2015, and started a Master’s project in Fall 2015 to study ecological genetics of the red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle. She finished her Master's in collaboration with the Fox and Lewis labs in Fall 2017.
Marta Robertson finished her PhD in summer 2017. Her thesis "Epigenetic Response to Challenging Environmental Conditions" focused on several species of coastal plants, partly in collaboration with Prof Adrienne Nicotra at ANU. She is now a Crop Development Specialist at Avalo (https://www.avalo.ai/) (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=1kAkdGoAAAAJ).
Mariano Alvarez finished his PhD in summer 2016. His thesis "Molecular Response of Spartina alterniflora to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill" included collaboration with Prof Malika Ainouche of Université de Rennes1 in France. He is a co-founder of Avalo (https://www.avalo.ai/)(https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gzcXhqsAAAAJ&hl=en).
Christy Foust finished her PhD in Fall 2015. Her thesis "Population Genetics and Epigenetics of Two Salt Marsh Plant Species along an Environmental Gradient" included collaboration with Prof Koen Verhoeven at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. She is now teaching in Danville, VA.
Professor Aaron Schrey, Georgia Southern University Armstrong campus, Savannah, GA
Schrey was a post-doc in the Richards lab from 2010- 2012. He continues to work on genomics and epigenetics of adaptation and invasive species in several diverse systems (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lyy7R1UAAAAJ&hl=en).
Undergraduates!
