Undergraduate Team

In all of my research projects, I collaborate with undergraduate researchers. I believe that the most important aspect of my career as a scientist is to train the next generation of critical thinkers! As such, all undergraduates who work with me are involved in every aspect of the scientific process, from experimental design, to lab-work or computational work, to analyzing and interpreting the data. After getting comfortable in the lab, I encourage every undergraduate to lead or co-lead their own research project. I also include opportunities to present their research through posters and talks at conferences.

I have been fortunate to have been able to work with many incredible undergraduates. During my graduate work, this team was known as Team Nectar Microbe. Unsurprisingly, we studied nectar microbes. Learn more about us below!

What do we research?

Here’s a video about the research in the Fukami lab and some members of Team Nectar Microbe made by TNM member Jonathan Barros, who joined us for summer 2020:

Team Nectar Microbe Posters

These are posters that TNM members have created and presented for the Stanford B-SURP program.

What are our values?

Team Nectar Microbe Values Statement

Note: This statement was updated August 2020 and was written collaboratively by Jonathan Barros, Briana Martin-Villa, Lexi Golden, Sawye Raygani, Jonathan Hernandez, and Callie Chappell.

As a team, our core values are: 

• Foster a culture of inclusivity

• Promote equity to ensure access to opportunities

• Create a non-judgmental, supportive learning environment 

• Take space, make space

• Compassion and kindness

• Courage and determination, honesty

As a team, we want to accomplish: 

• Creating an inclusive community

• Increased equity in STEM for underrepresented communities

• Improving how we communicate with each other

• Creating a collaborative and shared-learning environment 

• Connect the public with the science community

• Conduct ourselves with integrity to be a positive impact in communities (including outside work)

• Sharing ideas openly & willingly, helping our team when needed

• Contribute knowledge to body of research knowledge 

As a team and as individuals, we will act according to these principles by: 

• Allowing for personal growth

• Recognizing that we are all human and come from different backgrounds

• Develop a growth mindset

• Showing our authentic selves 

• Being accepting of our mistakes and normalizing them as opportunities to learn

• Making space for self-care 

As individuals, we will hold ourselves accountable by: 

• Setting out personal goals but always thinking about how we’re part of a team

• Living in sincerity and trusting in one’s own self

• Create a ‘Could do list’ of things to accomplish for the week, reassess throughout week

• Create a culture of responsibility to give and receive feedback

As a team, we will hold ourselves accountable by: 

• Make a commitment to mutual respect 

• Having a positive mindset, coming to meetings and work ready to learn

• Continuing to be vulnerable and having the courage to speak out in a respectful manner when we feel we need to

• Being supportive to each other & staying in touch

• Be intentional about creating structures that maintain accountability 

Interested in joining Team Nectar Microbe?

If you are interested in joining TNM, please send me an email at calliech{at}stanford{dot}edu. Please include a few sentences about yourself and why you are interested in joining the team. It doesn't have to be overly formal, something like this would be great:

Hi Callie,

My name is _____. I am a "X" year student at [insert school here]. I am interested in joining TNM because….

Some ideas might include:

• I haven't have the opportunity to do research before and I would love to learn about it

• I am interested in learning more about ecology and evolution but don't know where to start

• I heard that I can learn a lot about research from working with you, but would like to talk to you to learn if I would be a good fit.

I am able to join TNM though _____ (see notes below)______ and would be interested in starting ___ {insert date}___.

Please let me know if this would be possible!

Best,

[Your name]

If I receive an email like this from you, I'll write back as soon as I can.

Some important notes:

If you are at Stanford, I only accept students who are (1) Federal Work Study-eligible, (2) take course credit, (3) pursuing an honors thesis, or (3) are part of a summer program such as B-SURP or BIO-X. I do not accept volunteers. If you are interested in joining the lab during the regular academic year, you need to be coming through options 1-3. If you are interested in joining the lab during the summer, I would encourage you to be paid through (1) Summer Federal Work-Study or (2) a summer research program.

You can find whether you are FWS-eligible by looking in the "View my Financial Aid” tab in AXESS.

If you are not at Stanford, you can work in the lab through a Stanford summer research program such as the SSRP-Amgen Scholars Program through the MESA Community College program, or others. If you have an opportunity in mind or want to brainstorm ideas with me, please feel free to email me.

A Note on Remote Work:

Currently, all research experiences are being conducted remotely. However, remote work does not preclude you from working in the lab. I am actively hiring students (especially through the Federal Work Study program) to conduct remote research opportunities. Do not hesitate to reach out, no matter where you are located!

Bacteria & Yeast Priority Effects

Previously, our lab had not established priority effects between nectar yeast M. reukaufii and nectar bacteria A. nectaris. With the help of collaborator Sergio Álvarez-Pérez, Katya and Veronica found strong negative priority effects between these species of nectar-inhabiting bacteria and yeast. These results informed much future work in the lab, including the ongoing Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics project.

Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics

Following up with Katya and Veronica’s experiment, we were interested in whether the evolutionary history of microbes could influence their evolutionary trajectory. To do this, we experimentally evolved nectar yeast and bacteria in various conditions simulating early-arrival by a competitor. We then conducted priority effects experiments to test whether the evolution treatment influences the strength of competition.

Functional Genomics