Dr. Agnieszka Apple | Principal Investigator
Agnieszka (Aga) was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology in 2016. Her research unravels complex links between viruses, bacteria and the host immune environment. As part of her scientific accomplishments, she received the prestigious Parker B. Francis Fellowship for Pulmonary Research that supports her research. Aga is also actively involved in science mentoring and outreach, through partnership with the Blackfeet Community College in Browning, MT.
Email: agnieszka.rynda@montana.edu
Monica Hall, Ph.D. | Research Associate
Monica joined the Apple Lab March of 2020. She has a Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology from Emory University and B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Louisville. At the University of Colorado, her postdoctoral work uncovered defects in muscle stem cell proliferation in aged mice by combining cellular barcoding with high-throughput sequencing to quantify cell divisions in vivo during muscle repair. Monica has many research interests, but her overarching philosophy is to “follow the science.” Outside the lab, she enjoys skiing and hanging out with her 60 lb Asian Water Monitor, the second largest lizard by weight after the Komodo Dragon.
Email: monica.hall@montana.edu
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/monicanicolehall
Evelyn Benson, B.A. | Research Associate
Evelyn is a Research Associate who joined the Apple Lab in November of 2018. She has an AAS in Animal Health Technology from Colorado Mountain College and a B.A. in Environmental Biology from University of Colorado Boulder. She has worked in various environments including as a certified Veterinary Technician, certified Laboratory Animal Technician, Research Assistant for biotech companies, and Research Associate for pharmaceutical companies. Her most recent work has been at the bench performing various assays including ELISA’s, qRT-PCR and Bacterial Killing Assays.
Currently, she is working with the Apple Lab team on optimizing and validating several types of immune assays for bat samples.
Email: evelyn.benson1@montana.edu
Abby Luu, B.S. | Graduate Student
Abby is a graduate student who joined the Apple Laboratory in August of 2019. She received her B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Colorado State University in 2015. Prior to joining the Apple Lab, she worked in the AgriGenomics industry performing SNP analysis. She aims to understand the role that cellular metabolism plays in viral infection and subsequent regulation of Type I Interferons.
Email: abby.luu@student.montana.edu
Emma Dardenne-Ankringa | Undergraduate Student
Ella Horgan | Undergraduate Student
Ella is working with Monica and graduate students Dan Crowley and Caylee Falvo of the Plowright Laboratory. She is studying Bartonella in the Australian Black Flying Fox.
Luke Conway | Undergraduate Student
Luke is working with Monica and graduate students Dan Crowley and Caylee Falvo of the Plowright Laboratory. He is studying Bartonella in the Australian Black Flying Fox.
Cruz Allies | Undergraduate Student
Cruz is currently performing general laboratory duties to support ongoing research and assisting lab members with experiments.
Lab Alumni
Brooklyn Hunt | Undergraduate Student
Amelia Graves | Undergraduate Student
Kelly Shepardson | Postdoctoral Researcher
Madison Hebner | Graduate Student
Erika Anderson | Undergraduate Student
Julia Roemer | Undergraduate Student
Clyde Schulein | Undergraduate Student
Gabby Rizzo | Undergraduate Student
Sophia Springfield | Undergraduate Student
Ema Robinson | Graduate Student
Alexis Hatton | Graduate Student
Emiliano Hernandez | Undergraduate Student
Julia Wellham | Undergraduate Student
Logan Johns | Research Associate
Kyle Larson | Research Associate
Libby Fones | Graduate Rotation Student
Rebecca Orlando| Graduate Rotation Student (Spring 2018)
Gary Dunn | Graduate Rotation Student (Spring 2019)
Lillie Watson | Undergraduate Student
Hanbyul (Hannah) Cho | Undergraduate INBRE Scholar
Coy Harwood | Undergraduate INBRE Scholar
Kayla Stanek | Undergraduate Student
Lilianna Bento | Undergraduate Student
Kendra Bertrand | Undergraduate Student
The Apple Lab 