People

Principle investigator

Yajuan Lin (Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences) yajuan.lin@tamucc.edu

(photo credit to TARA Oceans)

Zhiwen (Zack) Zhong (PhD student, Marine Biology Program) zzhong@islander.tamucc.edu
Zack holds a B.S. from Ludong University and a M.S. in Animal Production from Zhejiang University, China. His research interests focus on carbon and nitrogen cycling in the Gulf of Mexico, from coast to open ocean. Outside of research, Zack enjoys skateboarding and snowboarding.

Bryce Earls (MS student, Environmental Science Program) bearls1@islander.tamucc.edu
Bryce received his B.S. in Environmental Science from TAMUCC and is now pursuing his M.S. in Environmental Science with a concentration in Coastal Systems. He has research experience working with coral skeletal growth, and he now works with the Lin Lab investigating the composition of manatee microbiomes. One of Bryce’s greatest passions is SCUBA diving, and he has spent over 500 hours diving at the Texas State Aquarium. When he’s not in the lab or underwater, Bryce enjoys hiking, keeping tarantulas, and spending time on the beach with his friends and his rescue dog, General.

Madison Long (Undergrad Researcher, LSAMP scholar) mlong5@islander.tamucc.edu
I am a senior biology undergraduate student with a concentration in organismal biology. I am interested in plant genomics and ecology, microbial ecology, and conservation. I have a passion for teaching the sciences and I currently work as a general chemistry TA. Most of my spare time is spent in the gym or running. I also enjoy reading novels and listening to music on vinyl.

Anne Christabel Martin (Undergrad Summer Research Intern) christabelm2000@gmail.com
Christabel is a neuroscience major at the University of Texas at Austin, pursuing the pre-med track. She is currently a summer research intern in our lab, working on cattle-associated microbiomes. With aspirations toward a career in cardiology or surgery, Christabel is eager to explore diverse research areas to understand how they can inform and enhance medical practice. Outside the lab, she enjoys rock climbing, exercising, and music.

Shuai Gu shuai.gu@yahoo.com (Research Specialist 2023 - 2025, now Research Specialist at Yale)
Mahima Yogesh myogesh@islander.tamucc.edu (MS student in Marine Biology Program 2023 - 2025)
Austin Carey acarey1@islander.tamucc.edu (Undergrad Researcher 2024 - 2025)
Dai Le dle13@islander.tamucc.edu (Research Assistant 2023 - 2024, MS student in Computer Science Program)
Ethan McCormick emccormick2@islander.tamucc.edu (Undergrad Researcher 2023 - 2024)
Merlin Miao jiazheng_miao@hms.harvard.edu (Undergrad researcher 2020 - 2023, MS from Harvard, now PhD student at Duke)
Yiyang Weng yiyang.weng@duke.edu (Undergrad researcher 2022 - 2023, MS student at Duke)
Yunyi Ru yru3@jh.edu (Undergrad researcher 2022 - 2023, MS student at Johns Hopkins)
Wendy Wen xinyi.wen@duke.edu (Undergrad researcher 2020-2022, MS from Duke, now S&P Global)
Lihan Huang lihan95@stanford.edu (Undergrad researcher 2020-2022, MS from Stanford)
Cutong Fang charity_fang@berkeley.edu (Undergrad researcher 2020-2022, MS from UC Berkeley)
Xiuwen Li (Research Assistant 2021-2022)
Yuchen Meng (visiting PhD student from DESS at Tsinghua University 2021)