Are you interested in joining the Wright Lab as an undergraduate researcher or pursuing a master's degree? If you are a current UMN undergraduate student (or local to Minneapolis/St. Paul), you should contact Dr. Wright directly to discuss possibilities!
If you are interested in starting your graduate studies at UMN (and you did your undergraduate work at another institution), please keep a few things in mind: (1) funding is uncertain and lack of funding can make it impossible to admit you into our program (!), (2) you should read about fellowship opportunities during your PhD that can help support you financially. If you bring your own funding through one of these fellowship programs this can make a huge difference in terms of getting admitted into this program (or other programs):
If you have considered all of these options and you'd like to discuss opportunities for joining the lab, please contact Dr. Wright ([email protected])!
Alexandra (Sasha) Wright (PI)
I am an Associate Professor of Plant Ecology at UMN EEB. My research examines how positive interactions between plants can help explain species coexistence, biodiversity-ecosystem function, and ecological responses to climate change. I am particularly interested in atmospheric drying, urban heat islands, and increasing human diversity in ecology.
Please read below to find out about past undergraduate and graduate student projects in my lab and opportunities for how you can get involved.
Current graduate students
Sabrina Colación
Sabrina started her PhD in the EEB department at UMN in Fall 2026. She is interested in how agricultural species and planting schemes can be designed to maximize microclimate benefits. She is also interested in the fundamental physical and physiological drivers of plant microclimates.
Lukas Lock-Scamp
Lukas started his PhD in Fall 2026 in UMN EEB. He is interested in the fundamental processes that drive changes in microclimate. This includes community properties and species traits. He is also interested in using microclimates to design smarter cities and natural areas.
Current undergraduate students
Fouad Sherkawi
Fouad joined the lab in Summer 2026
Nawal Abdulrahman
Nawal is working with me to develop a public school pipeline program with UMN (started in Spring 2026).
Lab alumni
Danny Guzman (completed M.S. 2022, lab manager until summer 2026)
Crystal Ramirez (completed M.S. 2023) - Crystal is now working on a PhD at Stanford with Dr. Aidee Guzman. She was a recipient of the NSF GRFP award for her work.
Daria Smith - Daria is now working on a PhD at Virginia Tech with Dr. Allie Igwe (she received honorable mention for her NSF GRFP related work).
Isabela Pedro - Isabela is now working on a PhD at Utah State with Dr. Peter Adler (she received honorable mention for her NSF GRFP related work).
Steph Varghese (completed B.S. 2023) - Steph is working on a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota with Dr. Forest Isbell. She is also an NSF GRFP fellow.
Austin Huynh (completed M.S. 2023) - Austin is pursuing a career in data science.
Sam Watson (completed M.S. 2021) - Sam is working on a Ph.D. at Northern Arizona University (NAU).
Regina Mae Francia (completed M.S. 2021) - Regina completed a PhD from NIU with Dr. Holly Jones in 2026.
John English (completed M.S. 2020) - John completed his M.S. degree in Spring 2020 and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto with Dr. Scott MacIvor.
Beatriz Aguirre (completed M.S. 2020) - Beatriz completed a PhD with Dr. Sunny Powers at Cornell in summer 2026 and is now working as a postdoctoral scholar at Michigan State.
Melissa Calvillo - Melissa joined the lab in Fall 2018. She worked on a project to explore the role of nitrogen deposition in urban environments on facilitation due to interactions with legumes.
Karol Abdou - Karol joined the lab in Spring 2019. She helped with every project in the lab. She was a jack-of-all-trades.
Lorena Reynaga (completed B.S. 2019) - Lorena is pursing an M.S. degree in Epidemiology
Bryan Miranda (completed B.S. 2019) - Brian is pursuing a career in natural resource management. He currently works for CA Climate Action Corps/AmeriCorps program.
Shawntavia Johnson (completed B.S. 2019) - Shawntavia is pursuing her teaching credentials at Cal Poly Pomona.
Myles Kilpatrick - Myles explored how different levels of biodiversity and plant species composition can affect near-leaf vapor pressure deficit and drive differences in comparison with weather station data.
Sasha Tyomkin (completed B.S. 2018) - Sasha is now in the PharmD program at Marshall B. Ketchum University.
Brian Hsieh (completed B.S. 2018) - Brian is now working on his Master's credentials in education at CSULA.
Courtney Whitehurst (completed B.S. 2022)