Welcome to my Website!

I am a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of South Carolina. I am broadly interested in adaptive evolution, host-parasite interactions, and ecological change. I use lab evolution with the nematodes, bacteria, and bacteriophages to understand how populations respond to environmental stressors and what factors tend to facilitate or impede adaptation. I have also dabbled in observational field ecology, and am interested in how ecological change influences populations of microorganisms and how that may impact disease burden in human populations.

I am a native of Orangeburg, SC, and received a B.S. in Biology and Environmental Science at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. I completed an undergraduate thesis with Professors Matthew Heard & Victoria Frost, evaluating how beach renourishment projects impact fecal indicator bacteria on beaches. I completed my Ph.D. in the Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution Program at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. I worked in the laboratory of Professor Levi Morran, where I used experimental evolution to understand how host defenses evolve under different host-parasite dynamics. I also worked with Professor Hope Hollocher as a Summer Research Opportunities Student at the University of Notre Dame, where I investigated the prevalence of Plasmodium knowlesi infection amongst macaques of Bali, Indonesia. Most recently, I completed my Postdoctoral training at Yale University in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department with professor Paul Turner. My postdoctoral project focused on evolutionary trade-offs associated with bacterial adaptation to bacteriophages. Outside of bench science, I completed a doctoral certificate in bioethics and have served as a teaching fellow, diversity fellow, and graduate student recruiter.

Keep up with recent research updates in the section below!

The Lewis Lab is currently accepting graduate applicants for the Masters and PhD Programs at the University of South Carolina!