Monica Morgan- Past Student

I graduated from St. Joseph’s Academy in 2003, and I am currently a sophomore at LSU majoring in Biological Sciences. In the future I hope to attend medical school and eventually have a career as a forensic pathologist. In the lab I am responsible for DNA extractions, PCR purifications, sequence purifications, and gel electrophoresis for various projects. Our main project involves air samples taken from the Atacama Desert in northern Chile from which we are analyzing to  determine the  diversity of  the microbes in  the

Claire Ponson

Originally from Raceland, LA, I graduated from Central Lafourche High School in 2004. I am currently a Freshman here at LSU majoring in Pre-Nursing. I will attend LSU Health Sciences Center in the Fall of 2006. My goal is to eventually become a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. I have been working in RaineyLab since March 2005 and am responsible for the continuous laboratory maintenance and media preparation. I also assist in bacterial DNA sequence clean-up and blast indentification using the Genebank database.

Greg Mayhall- Past Student

I graduated from Dunham High School in 2001. I am currently a senior majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in English. I began working in RaineyLab during the last part of Spring 2005 semester. In the future, I hope to attend medical school in fall of 2006. I am working on a project dealing with changes in bacterial populations across an Alpine timberline. I am responsible for sequencing clones obtained through 16S ribosome RNA gene librabies.

Mallory Durel - Past Student

I graduated from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge in 2000. Currently, I am a senior majoring in Biological Sciences and minoring in English, and I am planning to attend Graduate School in Microbiology next year and pursue a career in Microbiological research and development. I joined RaineyLab in the summer of 2004 and have been working on culture independent analysis of desert soil bacterial communities using functional genes as markers.

Jeffry John Cutrera - Past Student

I graduated from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge in 2000. Currently, I am a senior majoring in Biological Sciences and minoring in English, and I am planning to attend Graduate School in Microbiology next year and pursue a career in Microbiological research and development. I joined RaineyLab in the summer of 2004 and have been working on culture independent analysis of desert soil bacterial communities using functional genes as markers.

Bradley Burton Tolar

I graduated from Ocean Springs High School in Ocean Springs, Mississippi in 2004. Currently I am a sophomore here at LSU, majoring in Microbiology. I plan to go to graduate school to work towards a PhD. Afterwards I hope to work for the CDC and eventually a university doing research and teaching. I started working in the RaineyLab in January 2006. The project I will be working on is a study on the effect of desiccation on microorganisms present in soils from different environments.

Surf Poster 2006 

Gregory Horton Broering

My name is Greg Broering, and I am a junior majoring in biological sciences. I graduated from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge in 2003. I plan on attending medical school in the fall of 2008. I have been working in the RaineyLab since January 2006. I primarily assist Dr. Rash by extracting bacterial DNA from arid soil, running electrophoresis gels, preparing PCR reactions, and working on the NCBI Genbank.

Julie Hardaway

Julie is a Junior majoring in Biochemistry with a Chemistry minor. After graduating from LSU, she plans to attend medical school. Julie is from Bossier City, LA.

Ryan Peters

From Baton Rouge, LA. K-12 at the LSU lab school. Post Graduate.
Goal: Dental School Graduate Spring '08.
Like to play guitar, deer hunting, fishing, playing tennis, playing basketball. Biosciences major.

Tyrell Smith

Elise Lofton

In 2004, I graduated from St. Mary's Dominican high school in NewOrleans. I am currently a junior with a biological science major and minor in sociology. I hope to move back to New Orleans and attend medical school. I joined the Rainey lab in spring of 2007. I am responsible for maintenance PCR reaction, DNA purification, and DNA sequencing.

Patrick McTernan

I am from New Orleans, Louisiana. I am a senior microbiology major student. My work in lab involves uisng oxidative, radiation, UV and dessication stresses on bacteria. I plan on going to graduate school and furthering my education in microbiology at the molecular/cellular level..

Jade Funck

I am a freshman majoring in kinesiology. I graduated from Mount Carmel Academy in New Orleans. After receiving my undergrad from LSU. I plan to go to PT school to persue a career as a physical therapist. I started working in the Rainey lab in September of 2006. I am not working on a project, I just do what people tell me to do.

Chelsea Terrell

I graduated valedictorian of my high school in 2005 from Pope John Paul II in slide11. I came to LSU to major in biological sciences with intensions on going to medical school to be a surgeon. I am going to minor in anthropology and chemistry. I have been working in the lab since September 2006 under Dr. Rash aiding in various experiments by making media and collecting data, while also working with DNA purification and running electrophoresis gels.