People

Jonathan (Jon) W. Armbruster, Ph.D. 1997, University of Illinois

Director Auburn University Museum of Natural History, Professor and Curator of Fishes 


Research: systematics, evolutionary ecology, and morphology of loricariid catfishes, cavefishes and minnows.

Akila Abesinghe

Ph.D. Student 


Research: systematics of bagrid catfishes, invasion of suckermouth armored catfishes in Sri Lanka

Ben Allen

MS Student 


Research: Description of the Brassy Jumprock (Moxostoma. sp.)

David Werneke

Collection Manager, Fishes, Auburn University Museum of Natural History 


Research: Ecology of North American Fishes, Systematics

Courtney Weyand

Ph.D. Candidate


Research: Taxonomy and Systematics of North American Freshwater Fishes

Carly Woodfin

Ph.D. Student


Research: Discipline Based Educational Research, Histology

Former Students


Daniel Akin. August 2019-August 2022. Descriptions and Phylogenetic Relationships of the Guiana Shield Pencil Catfishes. Ph.D. student, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA.


Carrie Allison, MS (nonthesis), August 2001-August 2003, a guide to the loricariids of the Rupununi District, Guyana. Fish and Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Frankfort, KY.

Ricardo Betancur, Ph.D., August 2004 – May 2009. Systematics and evolutionary history of sea catfishes (Siluriformes: Ariidae). Associate Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California.

Corinthia Black, Ph.D. May 2017-August 2022. Evolutionary Ecology of Loricariid Catfishes. Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.


Edward Buress, Ph.D. August 2012-August 2017. Patterns and rate of ecological diversification among Neotropical cichlid fishes. Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.

Justin D. Evans, MS, June 1999 - May 2002. Taxonomic and phylogenetic assessment of the Hemiacistrus annectens group by morphometric and molecular methods (Teleostei: Loricariidae). City Engineer, Tampa, FL. 

Shobnom Ferdous, Ph.D., August 2004 – December 2014. Geometric Morphometrics and Phylogeny of the Catfish genus Mystus Scopoli (Siluriformes:Bagridae) and North American Cyprinids (Cypriniformes). Senior Lecturer, Auburn University, AL.

Pamela Hart, MS, May 2013-August 2016. Diversity and Conservation of the Southern Cavefish, Typhlichthys subterraneus. Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.

Malorie Hayes, Ph.D. August 2011-August 2020. Molecular Investigations of the Diversity of Freshwater Fishes across Three Continents. Instructor, Southern Union State Community College, Opelika, AL.


Tobit Liyandja, MS. August 2016-August 2018. Body shape evolution of African/Asian minnows of the genus LabeoCuvier 1817 (Cyprinidae, Labeonini) and variations in Labeo parvus. Postdoctoral Fellow, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada.

Nathan Lujan, Ph.D., August 2002 – May 2009. Jaw morpho-functional diversity, trophic ecology, and historical biogeography of the neotropical suckermouth armored catfishes (Siluriformes: Loricariidae). Curator of Fishes, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada.

Marcelo Melo, Ph.D., August 2004 – August 2009. Taxonomic and phylogenetic revision of the family Chiasmodontidae (Perciformes:Acanthomorpha). Professor, Departmento de Oceanografia Biológica, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Thomas Paul Pera, MS, August 2000 - December 2004. Taxonomic assessment of the silverjaw minnow, Notropis buccatus Cope (Cyprinidae). Lawyer, Memphis, TN.

Keith Ray, MS., August 2006 – December 2010. Redescription and morphometric analysis of Isorineloricaria (Siluriformes: Loricariidae). Director of Conservation, Southeastern Trust for Parks and Land, Avondale Estates, GA.

Lesley de Souza, Ph.D., August 2003 – December 2011. Hydrological link between the Amazon River Basin and the eastern Guiana Shield on the Neotropical ichthyofauna. Conservation Biologist, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL.

Charles Stephen, Ph.D. August 2014-May 2022. Gene flow, morphology, and taxonomic revision of cave-obligate Hesperochernes pseudoscorpions. Assistant Professor, Perimeter College, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.

Carla C. Stout, Ph.D. August 2010-May 2017. Minnows and molecules: resolving the broad and fine-scale evolutionary patterns of Cypriniformes.

Jordan Sykes, MS (nonthesis). August 2022-May 2024.

Milton Tan, Ph.D., August 2009-August 2016. Evolution of Miniaturization and Paedomorphism in Fishes of the Order Cypriniformes. Assistant Research Scientist, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL.

David C. Werneke, MS, August 2000 - May 2005. Variation within the genus Labidesthes Cope (Atheriniformes: Atherinopsidae) and its influence on the validity of the fiery-finned silverside (Labidesthes vanhyingi Bean and Reid. Collection Manager of Fishes, Auburn University Museum of Natural History.

Paul Wieczorek, MS, August 2012-December 2015. Ecomorphological analysis of cyprinids in the Mobile Bay Basin

Jennifer M. Weber. August 2015-May 2018. Variation in morphology and physiology of introduced populations of the Virile Crayfish, Faxonius virilis Hagen 1870.