What We Do
Here are a few of our current projects....
Radiation Survival Mechanisms
Some like it hot
Mechanisms of extreme radiation resistance remain elusive. We have created some of the most radiation resistant organisms known, and are investigating their unique characteristics. Photo of Halobacterium salinarum colony courtesy of Matt Ford (used with permission).
Phage Therapy
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
We are isolating phages that specifically target certain human pathogenic bacteria, and evolving them to increase their host range. Photo of phages infecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa courtesy of Kasandra Velarde.
Lab members
Meet the gang:
Professor and Chair, Biology Department
New Mexico Tech
Ph.D. University of Virginia, Microbiology, 1984
B.S. University of California, Berkeley, Genetics, 1979
Wellesley College, 1976-77
Katheryn Perea
PhD student
Kat is a PhD candidate who started in the Biotechnology program in the summer of 2021. She came back to NMT after several years in industry, focused on furthering her career in research. Within biology, Kat specializes in microbial community analysis, molecular biology, genomic and metagenomic analysis. She also has a background in both programming and theoretical mathematics and plans on pursuing more interdisciplinary research questions across these fields. When Kat isn’t running a gel backwards for the third time that day or smashing the keys on her keyboard in frustration, she’s probably out hiking, drinking beer, or getting tattooed. Kat’s plan for the future is up in the air, but she plans to keep exploring new questions and learning new skills, wherever she ends up.
Casia Esparza
MS student
Casia first began working in the DeVeaux lab in summer 2019, focusing on the fingerprint identification project. After two-plus years filled with endless PCR and gel electrophoresis, she graduated with her B.S. in Biomedical Sciences. While her project here focused on human fingerprint DNA, she has also worked with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and bacteriophages. When she finally has free time, she is often out in the field taking pictures of the vast landscapes around New Mexico, doing some type of art project, or cooking/baking for anyone that’s hungry.
She is now working on her M.S. in Biology.
Ph.D. student
Completing her baccalaureate in computer engineering in 1986, Faye Schilkey's career spanned programming assembly line controllers for the automotive industry to real-time autopilot and guidance missile systems to IT, databases and bioinformatics software. For approximately the last 12 years Ms. Schilkey has specialized in next generation sequencing and bioinformatics technologies and leads multidisciplinary teams in productive research collaborations. She has worked at the National Center for Genome Resources since 1996 and has been the Director of the New Mexico IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence (NIH NIGMS 2P20GM103451) Sequencing and Bioinformatics Core since 2007.
Former lab members
See what our graduates are up to...
Katherine Persinger
M.S., Biology, New Mexico Tech, 2022
Katie Persinger began assisting in the lab in the Fall of 2019. She has worked with Antarctic isolates, Pseudomonas biofilms, phages, and extremophiles. Katie finished her Master's thesis studying the radiation resistance mechanisms of halotolerant archaea. She also has extensive experience with pug wrangling and pottery-making. Katie hopes to work with extremophiles and research life outside Earth in the future.
Hannah Lambertson
M.S., Biology, New Mexico Tech, 2022
Hannah is from Colorado, and was part of the 5-year accelerated Master's program at NMT, graduating with her B.S. in Biology in the Spring of 2021 and her M.S. in Biology in Spring of 2022 doing research on radiation resistance mechanisms in Halobacterium salinarium. . She began working in the DeVeaux lab in Spring 2020 working as an undergraduate research assistant. When not in the lab or doing homework, she likes to cross stitch, read and spend time with her husband.
Kasandra Velarde
M.S., Biology, New Mexico Tech, 2022
Kasandra Velarde started research in the DeVeaux lab in Spring of 2019. She has worked on various organisms and has interned at three different universities! Her M.S. work focused on neutralizing pathogens by electron beam irradiation without destroying genomic integrity for research purposes. On the days she's not in the lab, she's hanging out with friends and family or playing sports. Here's a sweet quote of her time as a microbiologist - "Well, you know, usually my career consisted of alcohol, streaking, and antibiotics... ('pause for dramatic effect')... (ba dum tss). These are techniques that all microbiologists need to know especially if they are working with pathogens."
Raymond Castillo
B.S. in Biomedical Sciences 2022;M.S. in Biology 2023, New Mexico Tech
Raymond began working in the lab his freshman year in the fall of 2018, gaining experience and learning new things from his fellow peers. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences in Spring 2022 and plans to graduate (he hopes) in 2023 with his MS.. When he’s not in the lab or working on papers for his classes, Raymond enjoys playing piano and guitar as well as participating in the Council for Climate Change Club and Techie Stand Up here at New Mexico Tech. Additionally, Raymond probably owns too many Metallica shirts for his own good.
Raymond will be starting a PhD at Washington University in St. Louis in the Fall of 2023.
Ashley Chavez
M.S., Biology, New Mexico Tech, 2020
Ashley was born and raised in New Mexico. She started off collecting phages from the Rio Grande in high school. She received her BS and MS in Biology from NMT. During her BS she worked on soil, algal, and cannabis microbiology. Her MS project was in collaboration with Sandia National Labs developing phage based therapeutics. After graduation she went straight to work as a COVID19 and Select Agent researcher for Lovelace Biomedical on Kirtland AFB. She then moved into mRNA production research at a Santa Fe based startup. She currently works in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Albuquerque.
Kimberly McNair
M.S., Biology, New Mexico Tech, 2020
Kimberly was a dually-enrolled BS/MS student from Colorado Springs with a passion for microbiology. Her thesis focused on the spread of antibiotic-resistant organisms and related genes in the Rio Grande. Since her graduation in 2020, Kimberly has been living in Austin, TX. Her career so far has focused on clinical diagnostics and assay development research.
Celena Shrum
M.S., Microbiology, Idaho State University, 2019
Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 2018
Jessie is an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the Idaho college of Osteopathic Medicine. Jessie completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Idaho Veteran's Research and Education Foundation. The focus of her research was Staphylococcus aureus and other drug-resistant bacterial pathogens, and improving our understanding of how bacteria regulate the expression of virulence factors, including exotoxins. The aim of these studies was to define networks that can be exploited for improved diagnostics and innovative intervention strategies to reduce disease incidence and provide protection against lethal and disabling infections.
Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 2017
Dr. Murray is currently the Director of the Environmental Engineering Tech program at Western Dakota Technical College, and CEO of Crossover Biomedical.
Elizabeth Jensen
M.S., Biomedical Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 2017
Since 2017, Libbey is an instructor for the school of natural sciences at Black Hills State University at their Rapid City, SD, campus. She teaches biology courses for both majors and non majors as well as anatomy labs.
Ph.D., Microbiology, Idaho State University, 2015
Brady is the Director of the Earth, Biological and Quantitative Systems Science Division at the Savannah River National Laboratory. In this role, he leads a team of 75 scientists and engineers performing multi-disciplinary research and development related to environmental, bioenergy and national security programs. He is also responsible for managing and building programs in the environmental remediation and biological sciences business sectors targeting the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, as well as industrial organizations. He is currently overseeing development of a Biomanufacturing Laboratory Suite that is part of the SRNL Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative being developed with the University of South Carolina-Aiken. In his spare time, he still enjoys pursuing microbiological and molecular research for understanding microbial function and interactions related to a number of complex problems.
Patrick Gygli
Ph.D., Microbiology, Idaho State University, 2012
Since his post-doc at the Ohio State University, Pat has been taking a hiatus from laboratory work to focus on other important matters.
M.S., Microbiology, Idaho State University, 2012
Ben is currently a staff pharmacist for Albertson's in Boise, ID.
Julienne McCaskill
M.S., Microbiology, Idaho State University, 2012
Julienne is currently a Lab Manager at AgroPur, where she has 30 employees. They run quality, analytical and organoleptic testing on their cheeses and powdered whey products. She has been in the food industry for over 6 years. Julienne enjoys shooting, kayaking, paddle boarding, rock climbing, camping, hiking and mountain biking with her husband and 2 dogs.
Merrit Cherry
M.S., Microbiology, Idaho State University, 2012
J. Scott Lockhart
M.S., Microbiology, Idaho State University. 2012
Jared Wortham
M.S., Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Idaho State University, 2009
Christina Kavran, D.O.
M.S., Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Idaho State University, 2008
Mohammed Amine Mestari
M.S., Health Physics, Idaho State University, 2007
Lynn Durtschi
M.S., Microbiology, Idaho State University, 2006
Lynn is an Instructor Evaluator in Administration for BYU-Idaho's Online Learning Department. He is in the final stages of completing his dissertation for an Ed.D in Higher Education Administration at Idaho State University.
Nino Chelidze
M.S., Health Physics, Idaho State University, 2006
Nino is a Radiation Safety Officer at Fermi National Laboratory.
Jonathon Smith
M.S., Microbiology, Idaho State University, 2006
Nicola Selfa
M.S., Microbiology, Idaho State University, 2005
Patricia Retka
M.S., Health Physics, Idaho State University, 2005
Cassandra Frandsen
M.S., Health Physics, Idaho State University, 2005
