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Cornell University
Brandon P. Hedrick
Functional Morphologist | Evolutionary Biologist | Paleontologist | Ecologist
Principal Investigator
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Assistant Professor, Cornell University
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Emory University B.S. 2010
University of Pennsylvania Ph.D. 2015
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Postdocs:
University of Massachusetts (Dumont Lab)
Harvard University (Pierce Lab)
University of Oxford (Benson Lab)
Lab Members
Postdoctoral Researchers​
Andrew Orkney (Postdoctoral Research Scholar) ​
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Andrew is an early career researcher with wide-ranging interests across the biological sciences, reflected in a publication record that spans satellite monitoring of Arctic plankton blooms to the inference of ecological attributes in Dinosaurs from fossil bone histology. His main field of interest is ecomorphological adaptation, evolvability and anatomical organisation of the vertebrate skeleton.
His responsibilities, working in the Hedrick Lab, include the production of 3-D skeletal models from CT-scan data and downstream geometric morphometric analyses, taking advantage of sophisticated mathematical methods. This work will increase understanding of the intersection between aerial and dietary ecology and limb skeleton morphology across bats, in the context of large inter-specific variation in body mass. This will help illuminate the evolutionary solutions employed by bats to transcend mechanical constraints and rule the night!
Priscila Rothier (Postdoctoral Research Scholar)​
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Priscila is an early career evolutionary biologist passionate about the study of morphological diversity. Her interests consist of linking ecology, function and development to understand how different species and phenotypes have evolved. Her work has mainly focused on the skeletal variation of the locomotor system of tetrapods, especially of lizards and mammals.
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As a postdoctoral researcher at the Hedrick Lab, Priscila is investigating the macroevolutionary patterns of limb shape diversification in mammals. She is particularly motivated to explore the impact of body size on the ecological and morphological disparity in this group. To do so, she employs a wide array of techniques, such as imaging, morphometrics, utilization of natural history data, and conducting phylogenetic analyses on extensive comparative datasets.
Graduate Students
Oliver Ljustina (Ph.D. Student)​
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Oliver is an instructor in the Biology Department at Southeastern Louisiana University where he earned his MS in 2018. He has a long standing passion for reptiles and amphibians, especially those species that make themselves at home in human dominated landscapes. In his free time, he enjoys fishing and spending time with friends and family.
Oliver is currently pursuing a PhD at Louisiana State University through the Department of Renewable Natural Resources, where he is co-advised by Dr. Michael Kaller and Brandon Hedrick. His dissertation work examines morphological and trophic shifts in watersnakes (genus: Nerodia) associated with their feeding on invasive fishes in urban Miami and Everglades National Park.
William Hooker (Ph.D. Student)​
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Will is a Ph.D. student in the Geological Sciences field at Cornell. His interests include vertebrate paleontology, fossil collecting, and paleoart. To share his enthusiasm about Earth science, Will founded the Pangea Club at Cornell. Will's experience ranges from exhibition design at the American Museum of Natural History to running high-temperature geochemical experiments in the EAS Department.
In the Hedrick Lab, Will is examining cranial data using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to assess the degree of asymmetry in the mammal-like reptile Diictodon (Synapsida, Therapsida) and explore how taphonomic processes alter interpretation of the fossil record.
Stephen Bredin (M.S. Student)​
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Stephen is a herpetologist interested in applied ecology and passionate about reptile and amphibian conservation. His work has included tracking Burmese pythons in the Everglades, studying giant garter snakes in agricultural landscapes in California, surveying for indigo snakes in North Florida, and studying the reproduction of Oregon Spotted Frogs in Washington. He has a broad interest in applied research, management, and conservation outreach. In a world increasingly impacted by humans, Stephen is interested in finding solutions to issues affecting reptiles and amphibians.
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Stephen is an M.S. student in the Hedrick Lab studying ambystomid migrations across roads with a particular interest in how and when juveniles return from breeding pools to upland habitat in the summer. He also contributes (and often leads) the red-backed salamander work in the lab and is the founder of TCAMP (Tompkins County Amphibian Migration Patrol), which helps wayward amphibians cross roads in Tompkins County every Spring.
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Caroline Goldstein (Postbac Scholar)​
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Caroline graduated from Cornell in the class of 2024 as an Animal Science major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Originally on the pre-vet track, she has recently discovered a passion for evolutionary biology and research, and is looking forward to exploring what else science has to offer. Outside of academics, she enjoys reading, horseback riding, and playing with her cat.
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In the Hedrick Lab, she is working on various salamander projects under the SPARCnet RaMP program and is learning how to perform spatial capture-recapture analyses. Additionally, she is looking at sexual dimorphism in bat pelves using microCT data. This includes segmentation of bones and 3D geometric morphometrics. Her work will also be used in a large-scale integration study currently being done across bats in the Hedrick Lab.
Vet Students​
Isha Chauhan (DVM/Ph.D. Student)​
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Isha is an incoming DVM/PhD student at Cornell with a focus on zoology and wildlife conservation. She recently completed her bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Kentucky. Her rotation project in the Hedrick Lab focuses on assessing novel spatial capture recapture methods on salamander populations in Louisiana to determine population density and spatial distribution. She is also working on the red-backed salamander projects going on in the lab.
Amy Yang (DVM Student)​
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Amy is a DVM candidate of the class of 2027 at Cornell CVM. She wants to pursue a career in zoo and wildlife medicine to support global conservation efforts. Amy completed her Bachelor of Science at Purdue University, where she studied in ecology, evolution, and environmental biology. During her undergraduate studies, she was part of the Bernal Lab, a behavioral and sensory ecology lab that focuses on the interspecific relationships between anurans and frog-biting midges.
In the Hedrick Lab, Amy is working with CT data to extract long bones of rodents and shrews to understand how bipedality changes skeletal organization.
Undergraduates
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Kay Williams (Class of 2026)​
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Kay is an undergraduate Environment & Sustainability major with a minor in Animal Science and Education. She has a strong interest in amphibians but also enjoys working with mammals. She is a current Vice President of Guiding Eyes at Cornell while also raising a GEB guide dog! In her free time she likes to read, crochet and spend time in nature.
In the Hedrick Lab, Kay is aiming to gain understanding of how animals adapt, whether that be through bone changes tracked through CT scans or through movement patterns of animals in the field. She is currently working on two projects. One being understanding evolutionary skeletal organizations in hummingbirds in the lab using CT bone segmentation. She is also working on her own project in the field by studying red-backed salamanders changes due to climate change using spatial capture-recapture analyses.
Elizabeth Augustin (Class of 2025)​
Elizabeth is a biological sciences major in the College of Arts and Sciences with a focus in computational biology. She aims to use statistics and data analysis to make ecological information more accessible and useful to the general public in order to increase participation in and appreciation for ecology and the environment, in addition to impacting policy. In her free time she likes to explore her passion for the performing arts, specifically through dance and modeling, and is a dedicated member and secretary of Cornell’s Caribbean dance team (CCSADE). She aspires to give rise to a field that allows her to integrate her love for the arts with her dedication to science.
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In the Hedrick Lab, she is working to better understand how bat sternum shape is impacted by bat flight style and body mass.
Lauren Essner (Class of 2027)​
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Lauren Essner is a pre-professional Animal Science major. Her favorite class is on vertebrate reproductive morphology and looks forward to future anatomy courses. She is aiming to either go to veterinary school or graduate school. She frequently volunteers at Saoirse Pastures where she helps animals of all kinds, including cows.
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Lauren is researching the relationship between the astragalus and calcaneus bones and locomotor modes in carnivorans, has worked on lizard skeleton asymmetry, and has done field biology with salamanders. She is now also examining how bipedality has led to changes in skeletal organization in small mammals.
Rita Liu (Class of 2026)​
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Rita is a Biological Science major with a concentration in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the College of Agriculture and Life Science. As a pre-med student, she exhibits a strong passion and dedication to science. With her strong interest in mammals, she would like to jump out of her comfort zone and spend time appreciating evolution and ecology. In her free time, she loves to manicure, hang out with friends, and sleep.
In the Hedrick Lab, she is working on the development of an explodable dog skull for teaching veterinary anatomy. As part of this, she is getting experience working with CT data and 3D printing.
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Anna Siegel (Class of 2028)​
Anna Siegel is an Environment & Sustainability major at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, studying environmental biology and applied ecology with the goal of going into conservation ornithology. She is also minoring in Public Policy. She is keen on researching phylogenetics, evolution, and ecological systems to understand how the climate crisis has and will continue to impact the natural world. She is part of Cornell University Sustainable Design, the Cornell Rock Climbing Club, the Birding Club, and active in the climate justice movement on campus. When not on Zoom calls or studying, Anna writes poetry, hikes, and drinks bubble tea.
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Anna is learning how to segment skeletons for a project related to body mass and limb morphological evolution in mammals. She is keen to start working on hummingbirds as a follow-up to some of the Hedrick Lab's recent bird work.
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Allix Byars (Class of 2028)​
Allix is a Biological Sciences major, concentrating in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. With her strong passion for working with animals, her goal is to do wildlife biology field research in order to support conservation efforts. At Cornell, she is a part of the Herpetological Society, Melodramatics Theatre Company, and Piano Society. Outside of school, she likes to read, do pottery, hike, and rock climb.
In the Hedrick Lab, Allix is working on a team salamander project aiming to determine the scope and impact of local salamander mortality. This research includes looking at how volunteer effort can be used to better understand salamander road mortality and its causes, as well as how to help reduce it.
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Morgan Purefoy (Class of 2027)​
Morgan is a College of Agriculture and Life Science student majoring in Biological Science with a concentration in Biodiversity & Systematics. Her interests include global conservation ecology, wildlife management, and Earth systems science. She is a member of the Biology Scholars Program and had the pleasure of participating in Cornell’s BIRDSONG program. This spring, Morgan plans to complete her NOLS Wilderness First Responder certification. In her spare time, Morgan enjoys researching circumpolar history, watching Jeopardy, and photographing animals. ​
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In the Hedrick Lab, Morgan is helping on the salamander road mortality project where she is aiming to examine the effects of road mortality on juvenile salamanders and the effectiveness of volunteer efforts on salamander conservation.
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Beyonca Akers (Class of 2025; New Visions Program)​
Beyonca Akers is a senior at Charles O. Dickerson High School. She is part of the New Visions: Life Sciences program which allows her to spend her school day at the Hedrick Lab. In college she wants to go into wildlife biology and conservation, and is also interested in photography. She spends her time doing theatre, crocheting, filmmaking, and gardening.
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She is currently working to understand how bat sternum shape relates to flight ecology and is learning how to work with CT data, segment, and landmark bones using geometric morphometric approaches.
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Emily Hart (Class of 2027)
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Emily is an Environment and Sustainability major in the College of Arts and Sciences concentrating in environmental biology and applied ecology. Her interests include behavioral ecology, dynamic conservation, and science communication with a goal of learning about ways that the complex needs of humans and wildlife can both be incorporated in conservation. At Cornell, she is involved in the birding and herpetology clubs, the Dining Subteam on Residential Sustainability Leaders, and the Cornell Ultimate Team. With a love for books and fiction podcasts, Emily loves to dive into the worlds of others’ imaginations. She also extends this curiosity to the natural world and spends as much time as she can outside.
In the Hedrick Lab, Emily is working on the salamander road mortality project to better understand how human development impacts their breeding migrations. In addition to collecting data on adult and juvenile salamanders, research will also include examining the effectiveness of volunteers on conservation.
Lab Alumni
Shannon Hu (2023) (Class of 2026 at Cornell):
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Jamison Thompson (2023-2024) (New Visions Life Sciences Program):
Project: Patterns of integration in bipedal and quadrupedal rodents
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Olivia Li (2022-2023) (Class of 2026 at Cornell):
Project: Flight patterns and muscle activation in bats
Tram Huynh (2022-2023) (Class of 2024 at Cornell):
Project: Effects of bat forelimb and hindlimb asymmetry on flight style
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Luke Pruett (2022)​ (Class of 2022 at LSU):
Project: The effects of cranial asymmetry on bite force in the green anole (Anolis carolinensis)
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Farid Abou-Issa (2021-2022)​ (Class of 2025 at LSU School of Medicine):
Project: Locomotion Fabrication: 3D printing evolutionarily unique proximal forelimbs for effective educational outreach
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Karine Abazajian (2020-2022)​ (Class of 2022 at Tulane University):
Project: Skull asymmetry in urban and rural Virginia Opossums in Louisiana
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Marc Merriman Jr. (2020-2022)​ (Class of 2022 at Xavier University):
Project: A comparative outlook of 2D vs 3D geometric morphometrics in the Virginia Opossum
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Currently Marc is a Master's student at UConn.
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Alexandra Magee (2020-2021)​ (Class of 2024 at Xavier University):
Project: The influence of limb asymmetry on anole locomotion
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Erin Sheehy (2020–2021)​ (Class of 2021 at Tulane University):
Project: Skull shape divergence across three species of Louisiana bats with similar diets.
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Currently Erin is a Master's student in Tulane's EEB Program
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