People

Picture of Kathleen Kay in front of the Coastal Biology Building at UCSC.

Kathleen M. Kay, PI

Professor, Dept. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UCSC
UCSC Faculty Equity Advocate
Faculty Executive Director, UCSC Greenhouses
President, California Botanical Society
Council, Society for the Study of Evolution

B.S., University of California, Davis, 1995
PhD., Michigan State University, East Lansing, 2004
National Parks Ecological Research Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara, 2004-08

Email: kmkay at ucsc.edu

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Current lab members

Cecilia with a butterfly on her finger
PhD candidate Cecilia Girvin studies conflicting selection on male and female function in Clarkia unguiculata
Eli Allen in a field of flowers
PhD student Eli Allen studies the diversification and flower color polymorphism of Leptosiphon
Linnea holding a tray of Leptosiphon plants in the greenhouse
BS/Master’s student Linnea Rydell studies serpentine and drought tolerance in Leptosiphon parviflorus

Former lab members

Rossana Maguina
Rossana Maguiña, PhD 2023
Research Associate, University of Texas, Austin
Jenn Yost
Jenn Yost, PhD 2013
Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of the Robert F. Hoover Herbarium, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Shelley Sianta
Shelley Sianta, PhD 2019
Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Austin
Yann Surget-Groba
Yann Surget-Groba, postdoc 2011-12
Professor, Université du Québec en Outaouais
Brett Smith
Brett Smith, Master’s 2014
Senior Software Engineer, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle
Kathryn Uckele and her dog Luke
Kathryn Uckele, postdoc 2022-24
Postdoctoral scholar, University of Montana
Julia Harencar
Julia Harenčár, PhD 2024
CPB and USDA Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Davis
Tim Miller
Tim Miller, PhD 2016
Course Instructor for the UC Natural Reserves California Ecology and Conservation Supercourse
Tania Jogesh
Tania Jogesh, postdoctoral scholar 2017-18
Principal AI Engineer for the City and County of San Francisco
Pedro Juarez
Pedro Juárez, PhD 2025
Postoctoral Fellow, Lund University
Oscar Vargas
Oscar Vargas, postdoc 2018-2020
Associate Professor, Cal Poly Humboldt
Megan DeMarche
Megan DeMarche, PhD 2015
Associate Professor of Plant Biology and Haines Plant Ecology Chair, University of Georgia