Dr. Kerry Gendreau
PHD FELLOW ALUMNI | Global Change Center
Postdoctoral Researcher at Heidelberg University
VT Alumni May 2022, Biological Sciences
Advisor: Dr. Joel McGlothlin
kerryg@vt.edu
Kerry Gendreau began her PhD in Joel McGlothlin’s lab in Fall 2017 and is currently studying the evolutionary arms race between toxin harboring newts and their snake and bird predators. Kerry earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. For her Master’s thesis she studied the evolution of spider venom toxins under the advisory of Jessica Garb. During this time she also spent a summer volunteering for AmeriCorps on a watershed restoration project in Inyo National forest in California and became passionate about working in the backcountry and engaging in hands on conservation work. After completing a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail, Kerry joined Shihoko Kojima’s lab at Virginia Tech as a research specialist in 2015 and used bioinformatics and molecular tools to study the roles of posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression on circadian rhythms.
Ultimately Kerry would like to use molecular techniques to study adaptation and conservation genetics. With the Interfaces of Global Change program she hopes to connect and collaborate with environmental researchers and experts and to become actively involved in the protection and conservation of biodiversity.
The ICG IGEP provides PhD students with a unique intellectual focus and training, gaining depth in their specific scientific area of expertise, while simultaneously gaining breadth in the multifaceted realm of global change and the science-policy interface.
When students complete our program, they remain part of our broad community by becoming part of our Global Alumni Network. Our alumni are invited to participate in our graduate seminar courses, provide keynote remarks at our annual graduate research symposium, return to Virginia Tech for GCC gatherings, network with current students regarding career opportunities, and stay connected to each other.
