Graduate Students
Charlene Lujan, Ph.D. Candidate
Charlene is a veterinarian from Peru currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology. She has always been passionate about understanding wild birds’ diseases. In Peru, she studied avian parasites in wild birds and avian gastric yeast in exotic birds. She got her Avian Sciences M.S. at UC Davis working on Chlamydia sp. and atherosclerosis in raptors. Now, her research focuses on how microplastics and PBDEs are interfering with the health status of diving birds from the Humboldt Current Large Marine Ecosystem in Peru. Charlene runs the Microplastic Fauna Peru Project, which is an initiative from a multidisciplinary group of young Peruvian professionals that study microplastics and contaminants in Peruvian wildlife.
Email: [email protected]
Khiet Huynh, Ph.D. Candidate
Khiet joined the lab as an undergraduate and continued as a lab assistant after he received his Animal Biology B.S. in 2019. Now, Khiet is a Ph.D. student in the Animal Biology Graduate Group. He is interested in studying the effects of environmental factors on fish larvae. He currently leads our Delta Smelt larval culture and experimentation.
Email: [email protected]
Vukašin Đukić, Ph.D. Candidate
Prior education:
Master of Pharmacy - medical biochemist, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Master of Sciences - environmental health sciences, New York University, New York, USA
I am interested in the ecotoxicological effects of anthropogenic chemicals on fishes. My current research is focused on the two endangered species: Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) and Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys). The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers’ delta and the San Francisco Bay make up the study area where I am conducting my research. Primarily I am investigating the effects of pesticides, as well as the spatial distribution of the habitat quality and how it informs the health indices of these two species. Additionally, I am interested in interactions between toxicants and environmental conditions, particularly in the context of climate change. And, tying to my previous education, I want to look into pharmaceuticals as potential ecological pollutants.
In my free time I rollerblade and dabble in pottery.
Email: [email protected]