Kristin E. Brzeski, Assistant Professor 
Principle Investigator
Kristin is a wildlife biologist interested in research at the intersection of applied conservation and evolutionary theory. Her work utilizes a wide range of tools including genomic sequencing, epigenetic sequencing, camera traps, and a multitude of field based techniques. Kristin's past research has focused on wild canid genetics and she remains a contributor to the Canine Ancestry Project. Kristin integrates her research into teaching during her Mammalogy and Conservation Genetic courses at MTU.
CV
email: kbrzeski 'at' mtu.edu

Graduate Students

Tanner Barnes
Forest Ecology and Management MSc student in SFRES
MS project: Red wolf ancestry assessments of canids in SE TX
Project collaborators: Dr. Melissa Karlin, the Canine Ancestry Project

Tanner is a master's student in the Brzeski Lab researching ​canids in southeast Texas. He will be assessing red wolf ancestry and associated phenotypes in coyotes along the Gulf Coast. Tanner was also a past Earn and Learn student in the Lab working on an independent camera trap study. 
Tiffany DeGroot
Forest Ecology and Management MSc student in SFRES
MS project: Biodiversity surveys in Equatorial Guinea
Project collaborators: Biodiversity Initiative 

​Tiff is a master’s student in the Brzeski Lab studying biodiversity and conservation in tropical forests. Her research project utilizes DNA metabarcoding of carrion flies and camera trapping to survey wildlife in Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa. 

Undergraduate Students
Rachel Christensen
Undergraduate student in SFRES
Senior project: Avian Malaria in the UP
Project collaborators: Dr. Jared Wolfe

​Rachel is a senior studying Wildlife Ecology and Management. She is conducting her senior thesis in the Brzeski Lab evaluating the prevalence of avian malaria in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. 
Teal Sackett
Undergraduate student in SFRES

​Teal is an undergraduate majoring in Forestry and Wildlife Ecology and Management and a volunteer for Biodiversity Initiative sorting camera trap photos. 
Mason Steele
Undergraduate student in SFRES

​Mason graduated in Spring 2019 with his degree in Wildlife Ecology and Management. Mason has been a volunteer for the Brzeski Lab and Biodiversity Initiative where he has been pivotal in sorting camera trap data.