Mary M. Gardiner, Ph.D – Lab Director
Dr. Mary M. Gardiner is a Distinguished Professor of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University and Co-Director of the OSU Environmental Science Graduate Program. The Gardiner Lab’s community-engaged research program examines on the ecology and management of urban greenspaces for insect conservation including vacant lots, residential greenspaces, parks and rain gardens. The Gardiner Lab has published over 75 peer-reviewed publications and been awarded $8.1 M in grant support, with current funding from the NSF, USDA, and the MITRE Foundation. Mary is also a State Specialist in Extension and is active in the Ohio Master Gardener Volunteer Program. She has advised 23 graduate students and postdocs and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in insect ecology, presentation skills, and grant writing. Mary serves on the Entomological Society of America Governing Board and is a Past President of the ESA North Central Branch.
Ellen Danford
Senior Research Technician
Ellen is a Fulbright scientist who graduated from the Ohio State University in 2023 with a M.S. in Environmental Science and from Western Kentucky University in 2021 with a B.S. in Geography, a B.A. in Spanish and a certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Her background is in spatial analyses, urban forestry and entomology which she has pursued as a bachelor’s and master’s student, as well as a Fulbright researcher in Chile. She is interested in pursuing equitable and efficient greening, particularly urban forestry, in urban areas as well as creating and utilizing spatial tools to engage communities and planners. Following the completion of her Fulbright grant, she began working on an NSF-funded grant in the Gardiner lab looking to help pollinators through equitable greening.
Carly Tolle
Research Associate
Carly graduated from Bowling Green State University in May 2021 with a M.S. in Biology and previously graduated from Valparaiso University in 2015 with a B.S. in Biology. She has a strong background in entomology and has worked for various groups and organizations around the US including Archbold Biological Station, USGS, Clarke Mosquito Control, and more. Her general research interests revolve around supporting sustainable and diverse habitats in areas that are impacted by anthropogenic activities, especially agriculture and urban spaces. Carly started at OSU in 2024 and is working on a USDA-funded grant looking to find mosquito control methods that also support pollinators.
Lucy Guarnieri
PhD Candidate
Lucy is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow in the Gardiner Urban Insect Ecology Lab. She graduated from the University of Maine in 2019 with a B.S in Biology and a minor in Spanish and worked at the Maine Department of Agriculture before starting her PhD in Entomology at Ohio State in 2021. Lucy’s graduate work focuses on the challenges of conserving moths in urban landscapes. She is currently leading a Xerces Society-funded project that aims to elucidate patterns of urban moth diversity in Columbus, OH. Lucy is also actively engaged in entomology outreach and education and served two years as the Outreach Coordinator for OSU’s Entomology Graduate Student Association.
Michelle Pham
PhD Candidate
Michelle is a Graduate Research Fellow in the Gardiner Urban Insect Ecology Lab at The Ohio State University. Her research focuses on the ecological dynamics of vacant land in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., a post-industrial city which is home to over 30,000 vacant lots. She studies how urban vacant land can be managed to support wild bees and improve environmental quality in lower income neighborhoods. In partnership with local organizations and community leaders, Michelle aims to conserve insect biodiversity through community-engaged research examining the value of Cleveland’s urban greenspaces as bee habitat. She recently completed an internship at the UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology with Helen Roy and Diana Bowler and currently serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the Entomological Society of America.
Caralee Shepard
PhD Candidate
Carlee’s Website
Caralee is a Distinguished University Fellow in the Gardiner Urban Insect Ecology Lab at The Ohio State University. Her research focuses on native bee conservation in residential landscapes. In her five years of research in the Gardiner lab, Caralee has worked on projects modelling bee community assembly in different urban greening initiatives, completed a social science based survey project to evaluate vacant lot management preferences, and has partnered with the rebate program Community Backyards and Columbus residents to estimate the value of urban greening and potential off-target effects of mosquito control methods for pollinator communities. Caralee currently serves as the president of the department’s Entomology Graduate Student Association.
Erika Wright
PhD Student
Erika graduated from Mississippi State University in May 2023 with a M.S. in Entomology and previously graduated from Virginia Tech in 2021 with a B.S. in Environmental Resources Management and Urban Forestry. She developed an interest in urban ecology and pest management in the two summers she spent at the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratory in Charlotte, NC as a research intern, working closely with the lab entomologists. During her master’s, she studied the population dynamics and dispersal mechanisms of an invasive pest of a widely planted ornamental tree, crape myrtle bark scale, and gained an appreciation for working with tiny insects and the immense damage they can cause. Erika’s current research focuses on strategies for expanding and managing the urban forest in legacy cities, identifying climate resilient urban tree species, and examining herbivory and natural enemy activity on newly-planted saplings in urban parks.
David Narayanan
Undergraduate Student
narayanan.122@buckeyemail.osu.edu
David is a 4th year undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor’s in Evolution Ecology, with minors in Mycology and Entomology. He has worked in the Gardiner lab since 2022 researching native bee and lady beetle populations in urban landscapes, nontarget effects of mosquito adulticide applications in residential areas, moth conservation across Columbus Metro Parks. His current research focuses on pollutant accumulation in bumble bees within vacant land and urban green infrastructure sites in legacy cities. After graduating in December 2025, he hopes to continue his work in this field by pursuing a Master’s degree, and is open to inquiries about future lab opportunities.
Addison Copen
Undergraduate Student
Addison is a 3rd year entomology major at The Ohio State University. He is interested in the taxonomy and life history theory of Lepidoptera and their larvae. His previous work has included the identification and host-plant interactions of Spodoptera ornithogalli, and the morphology of microlepidopteran larvae. In his time with the Gardiner Lab, he has assisted in the processing and identification of specimens collected in part of Lucy Guarnieri’s urban greenspace and moth conservation project. Currently, Addison is preparing for his undergraduate thesis focused on the capability of urban pollinator habitats situated in the Franklin County Metro Parks and City of Columbus Recreational Parks to support caterpillar diversity. He will be surveying, rearing, photographing, and identifying caterpillars collected at the pollinator habitats to better understand how conservation efforts can be maximized to support Lepidopteran populations.
Lab Alumni
Postdoctoral Scholars
Frances S. Sivakoff, 2013-2018: Associate professor, the Ohio State University at Marion, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
Leo Taylor, 2018-2019: Program director at the Ohio State University Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Graduate Students
Lydia Fyie, Ph.D. 2024. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Maine.
Ellen Danford, M.S. 2024. Fulbright student, Santiago, Chile
Sarah B. Scott, Ph.D 2022, Newton International Fellow and Post Doctoral Researcher in Dr. Lynn Dicks’ Agroecology group, Cambridge University
Denisha M. Parker, Ph.D. 2021, Student research development officer, Prairie View A&M University
Katherine J. (Todd) Turo, Ph.D 2021, Post Doctoral Researcher in Dr. Rachael Winfree’s Lab, Rutgers University
Yvan Delgado de la Flor, Ph.D. 2020, Senior scientist, California Department of Pesticide Regulation
Alex Tyrpak, M.S. 2020, R&D Technician III, EnviroFlight
Christopher B. Riley, Ph.D. 2019. Entomological Researcher & Technical Support Specialist, Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories
Emily Sypolt, M.S. 2019, Biological Scientist, United States Air Force
Molly Dietrich Mabin, M.S. 2017. Biological Science Lab Technician, USDA- ARS, Vegetable Crops Research Unit
MaLisa Spring, M.S. 2017, Coordinator for the Ohio Odonata Survey, C.A. Triplehorn Insect Collection
Kayla I. Perry, Ph.D. 2016, Assistant professor, the Ohio State University, Department of Entomology
Scott Prajzner, Ph.D. 2016
Nicole Wright, MPHM 2016, extension educator, Aquaculture & LEARN Coordinator, Ohio Sea Grant College Program
Andrea Kautz, M.S. 2015, Research entomologist, Carnegie Museum of Natural History Powdermill Nature Reserve
Brian Klienke, MPHM 2015. OSU Extension Small Farm College Team, Greene County
Mary Griffith, MPHM 2014. Agricultural and Natural Resource Educator, OSU Extension
Ben Phillips, M.S. 2013. Vegetable Extension Educator, East Central Michigan
Caitlin Burkman, M.S. 2013. Pesticide Inspector, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division
Research Associates
Nicole Hoekstra, Research Assistant 2013-2017. Study Coordinator, Reporting & Technical Support Services, Charles River
Chelsea Gordon, M.S. 2012. Lab Assistant II, cooperative extension Kern County, University of California Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources