People
See also: Past Members Group Photos
Undergrad Project Students
Ruth Bilyk
Ruth is a fourth year student in the Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour program. She joined ABEL in the spring of 2023 as a 3QQ3 project student working on cognition in cichlids. Currently, she is working as a workstudy student and helps manage the lab. She is also a 4QQ3 project student, studying the behavioural activity of larval goby in response to food cues. In her free time, Ruth enjoys art, video games, and fossil hunting.
Olivia Coffield
Olivia is a recent McMaster graduate from the department of biology whose love of animals and interest in environmental conservation brought her to ABEL. She joined the lab this past summer as a PNB 3QQ3 and 4QQ3 student, and worked with PhD student Sina Zarini to better understand the mating behaviour of the invasive round goby. Her research projects focussed on the paternity of gobies and the success of alternate reproductive techniques displayed by two different morphs: sneakers and guarders. Olivia continues to visit and volunteer in the lab, helping out Team Goby with their current work. When she’s not in the lab or in class Olivia spends her time drawing.
Catalina Costiuc
Catalina is a third-year student in the Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour program who joined ABEL in January 2023 as a 2QQ3 project student and is now doing her 3QQ3 project in Fall 2023. She is working with Eli Latchem on research involving social learning in cichlid fish, more specifically taking a look at how dominance rank influences this learning. Next year she will return to do her thesis in ABEL! Some fun facts about Catalina are that she is on the McMaster Varsity Figure Skating Team and recently published a poetry book.
Jeremy Dykstra
Donya Molaie Fard
Donya is a third-year student in the Human Behaviour program. She joined the lab in September 2023 as a project student working with PhD student Hannah and thesis student Emily on the social behaviour of zebrafish. She scored behavioural videos studying the impact of fluctuating turbidity on the aggression of zebrafish. In the Winter 2024 term, Donya is working with Ainsley on the sneaker decision-making of the Plainfin Midshipman. In her free time, Donya enjoys music, baking, and spending time with friends and family.
Anna Farley
Anna is a 3rd year PNB and Arts&Science student. Since joining ABEL in January 2023, she has been working with PhD student Sina Zarini studying the round goby. As a 2QQ3 project student she studied the stomach contents of juvenile round goby. Over the summer she began working on a project to study the effects of food availability and predator detection on the vertical movement of juvenile round goby. She continued this project for a 4QQ3 over the fall. This winter term Anna is working for the lab as a work study student who helps manages the lab. Outside of the lab, Anna loves to dance, read, hike and swim.
Shioa-Tang (Tang Tang) Guo
Tang Tang is in her 3rd year of the Biology and PNB program. This winter, she is joining ABEL as a 4QQ3 project student. Tang Tang will be working with Eli looking at how social ranks affect learning preferences and capacity in cichlids. When she is not in the lab, Tang Tang enjoys going camping, holding bats, and trying to beat her record in the countries of the world quiz.
Mijun Lee
Mijun is a fourth-year student in the Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour program. She joined the lab as a 4QQ3 student in 2023, working on the round goby team project with PhD student Sina Zarini. Her research project this semester involves scoring videos studying temperature, growth and feeding in juvenile round goby. Outside of the lab, she loves baking, spending time with her cat, and hanging out with friends.
Ethan Li
Ethan is a second-year student in the PNB program who joined the lab in January 2024. He will be working in the juvenile round goby team with PhD student Sina Zarini. He will be helping score behavioral videos related to movement ecology and dispersal of the round goby. Outside of the lab, Ethan enjoys listening to music, playing basketball, and spending time with his girlfriend, friends, and family.
Lucas Marley
Lucas is a second year Honours Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences student who joined ABEL in January 2024 as a BIO 3IR3 student. Lucas is working with PhD student Hannah Anderson looking at how fluctuating turbidity levels affect the behaviour of Zebrafish; Lucas will be scoring behavioural videos of zebrafish to understands more about environmental fluctuations and their impact on behaviour. In his free time Lucas enjoys watching movies, buying new plants, and going on walks through nature
Noah Marley
Noah is a 2nd-year Biology and Environmental Sciences undergraduate student who joined ABEL in January of 2024 as a project student. Noah is assisting PhD student Hannah Anderson with her project on monitoring the behavioural changes of zebrafish in environments of varying turbidity. In his free time, Noah enjoys taking care of his plants, baking, and playing sports like baseball and volleyball.
Andrew Millar
Andrew is a second-year undergraduate student in the Biology and PNB program. He joined ABEL in January 2024 as a 2QQ3 project student and is excited to be working with Ainsley Harrison Weiss to study female mate choice in the plainfin midshipman. He will be looking at how the mate choice of a female may be influenced by the presence of other females in a nest, the observation of previous mate choices of other females, or the presence of eggs in a nest. In his free time Andrew enjoys reading, playing videogames, and playing tennis.
Anveshana Naidoo
Anveshana is a 4th-year Neuroscience student who joined ABEL as a volunteer in 2023. He continues to work to ensure colony health and assist with tank maintenance. This winter Anvesh has started as research project student. He will be conducting a literature survey looking at studies that manipulate aquatic visual environments with clay versus dye. He is working with PhD student Hannah Anderson in this work. Outside of lab he enjoys playing and listening to music, spending time outdoors and reading.
Ben Raffell
Yana Vaynberg
Yana is a 2nd year Honours Life Sciences student pursuing a minor in Psychology. She joined ABEL as a Lifesci 3RP3 project student in September of 2023, working with PhD student Hannah Anderson to study the behavioural impact of turbidity on Zebrafish. Yana learned to score behaviours of zebrafish. Yana will continue in the lab this term (winter 2024) working alongside PhD student, Sina Zarini. She will enumerate and identify zooplankton from Hamilton Harbour. In her free time, Yana enjoys hiking, reading books, learning to code, and spending time with family and friends”.
Emma Whittier
Emma is a 3rd year student in the Honours Biology and Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour program. She joined ABEL in Winter 2024 as a 3QQ3 project student. Emma will be working with Eli looking at the social behaviour of cichlids. When Emma is not in the lab or in class she like to spend her time going for runs, reading and hanging out with friends.