Sophia Kottke

I am a PhD student in the Evolutionary Anthropology program at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, affiliated with the Center for Evolution and Medicine and Institute of Human Origins. I am co-advised by Dr. Joan Silk and Dr. India Schneider-Crease.

In the Worms Gone Wild Lab, my research takes an interdisciplinary approach to better understand bacteriophage (viruses that infect bacteria) dynamics in the gelada monkey gut microbiome. This work focuses on characterizing the collection of bacteriophages, or phages, that comprise the phageome. My graduate studies aim to address phageome development in early life and, more broadly, what drivers of variability can tell us about phageome stability and its potential implications with later life health outcomes. To do this, I rely on the project's long-term data, metagenomic sequencing data, and bioinformatic tools.

Originally from Austin, Texas, I earned my BS in Biology and Anthropology from Texas State University. During my time there, I worked with Dr. Jill Pruetz to study the impact of adult female presence on feeding associated behaviors within subgroups of a spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) community at the Camaquiri Conservation Initiative in Limón, Costa Rica. Additionally, I worked in Dr. Hong-Gu Kang's Lab for 2.5 years, where I helped to better characterize the activity patterns of a small RNA molecule, known as a tRNA-derived fragment, after pathogen exposure in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Worms Gone Wild Lab and find us on socials @wildwormslab | Learn more about geladas: Simien Mountains Gelada Research Project | Connect with me on LinkedIn