People
Neil Vickers
Professor
I’m originally from the United Kingdom and obtained my B.Sc. (Hons.) at the Imperial
College of Science and Technology, London. I came to the U.S. to work on my Ph.D.
in the Department of Entomology at U.C. Riverside with Professor Tom Baker (currently
at Penn State University) in 1988. For my doctoral dissertation I focused on the pheromone-mediated
behavior of the moth, Heliothis virescens. Following completion of my Ph.D. I continued
as a postdoctoral associate with Dr. Baker during which time his laboratory relocated
to Iowa State University. In 1995, I moved to the University of Arizona to work with
Drs. Tom Christensen and Dr. John Hildebrand in the Arizona Research Laboratories
Division of Neurobiology (ARLDN). During a 4-year postdoctoral stint I learned the
electrophysiological and neuroanatomical techniques for investigating the moth olfactory
system. I have been a faculty member in the Department of Biology at the University
of Utah since September 1998. I served as Departmental Chair from January 2008 –
July 2014.
Kirsten Meredith
Graduate Student
Undergraduate Students
Vista Lloyd
Chris Marston
Amelia Slusser
I received my Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the University of California, San Diego in 2014. After studying the human mind from a philosophical perspective, I am now studying the mind from a biological perspective at the University of Utah. I am majoring in biology and working towards applying to medical school. I joined the Vickers lab in 2017, and I have been assisting with the creation of a 3-dimentional map that will be used to identify landmark structures in the brains of the moth species, Heliothis virescens and Helicoverpa zea. I have always been fascinated by moths. In fact, I have a folk-punk band that is named Millie and the Moths, and we have performed at venues throughout Utah and Southern California. I first met Dr. Vickers at one of his presentations on moth olfaction, where I gave him a CD of my band’s original song, “Moth Love Song”.
Vickers Lab Alumni
Postdoctoral Associates
N. Kirk Hillier - postdoctoral research associate (2001 - 2007), now Professor at Acadia University (Biology), Nova Scotia, Canada
Christoph Kleineidam - postdoctoral research associate (2001 - 2002), now Prof. bei at University of Konstanz (Biology), Germany.
Seong-Gyu Lee - postdoctoral research associate (2007 - 2014)
Graduate Students
Christine Fogarty Celestino - former graduate student in Neuroscience Program. Christine received her Ph.D. in 2006 and now teaches Biology at the Juan Diego High School in Draper. She received the State of Utah's Governor's Medal in Education in 2015.
José Crespo - former graduate student in Biology. José received his Ph.D. in 2013. He is currently the Director of STEM Learning Resources at Salt Lake Community College.
Divya Kondur Narasaraju, Computer Programmer - from Bangalore, India studied for an M.S. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Utah. Currently Senior Design Verification Engineer at Xilinx, San Jose, CA
Undergraduate Students - where are they now?
Many undergraduate students have worked in the Vickers lab since 1998. Here are a few who we have kept in contact with.
Kim Iceman - graduated with B.S. in Biology, Ph.D. (University of Alaska, Fairbanks). Currently Assistant Professor, Valparaiso University (Biology), Indiana.
Dave Kelly - graduated with B.S. in Biology and attended University of Utah medical school. Currently plastic surgeon in Scottsdale Arizona.
Jeff Stagg - graduated with B.S. in Biology and worked as technician in the lab before heading to medical school at Texas Tech El Paso.
Brittany Sweeten - graduated with B.S. in Biology, M.S. at University of Southern Denmark.