We are excited to welcome Maame Kobe Asiamah to the lab through the STEGG-INTERACT program, an NSF-funded initiative that provides year-long research opportunities for recent graduates.
Kobe Asiamah is a recent graduate of Howard University, where she earned Dean’s List recognition in Fall 2023 and 2024. As an undergraduate research assistant in the Department of Biology, she investigated the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to assess freshwater macroinvertebrate communities in Nigeria’s Asa River. Her work included DNA extraction, species identification using NCBI and BOLD databases, and diversity analyses across sampling regions. This experience gave her strong skills in molecular ecology, biodiversity assessment, and bioinformatics, preparing her for advanced research in evolutionary genetics and environmental genomics.
The Southeast Texas Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics Integrative Research and Collaborative Training (STEGG-INTERACT) program offers recent college graduates a collaborative mentored research experience on the evolutionary genetics of biological interactions and training in technical and professional skills. More here.
Kobe will be working on the microbiomes of malaria vector mosquitoes (Anopheles coluzzii) during her time in our lab over the next year.