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Norah Saarman, PhDAssistant Professor, Department of Biology and Ecology Center
Email: norah.saarman[at]usu.edu Office: Life Sciences Building 333 Mail: 5305 Old Main Hill BNR117A Pronouns: She/Her/Hers I am a population geneticist and vector biologist studying how insect populations move, adapt, and respond to changing environments, and how those processes shape disease transmission and opportunities to guide area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM). I began my training at UC Berkeley and the California Academy of Sciences, studying genetics and evolution in seahorses, earned my PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz studying marine evolutionary systems, and later expanded my research to vector spatial ecology and evolution during my postdoctoral training at Yale University. My research combines population and landscape genomics, field biology, and spatial modeling to understand, predict, and forecast population connectivity, local adaptation, and the spread of traits such as insecticide resistance across natural landscapes. I also serve as a Research Agreement holder in the IAEA/FAO’s international Coordinated Research Project on Tsetse Population Genetics (CRP D42018), a 14-country initiative using population genetics, landscape connectivity, and spatial ecological modeling to guide AW-IPM applied to tsetse flies that are vectors of African Trypanosomosis. |
GRADUATE STUDENTS
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Emily CalhounPhD Student, Department of Biology and Ecology Center
I received my bachelor's from Westminster College in Neuroscience and Spanish in 2020 and worked as a microbiologist at the Utah Public Health Lab before starting at the Saarman Lab in Fall 2021. I am interested in studying disease dynamics and ecology through population genetics methods. My projects focus on understanding Culex mosquito populations in terms of hybridization, insecticide resistance, host preference and how this may impact West Nile Virus transmission within changing ecosystems. |
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Thad Allen |
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Amy Jamison |
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS
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Alina MorenoUndergraduate Researcher, Biochemistry major, USU
I received my associate degree in biotechnology from Salt Lake Community College in 2023. Now, I’m pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. I am particularly interested in genetic research, especially CRISPR-Cas9 and its pharmaceutical applications. |
ALUMNI
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Katie GraybealMasters Student, Department of Biology and Ecology Center
Katie graduated with her Master's of Science from USU in 2026. Before joining the Saarman Lab, Katie received my bachelor's from the University of Montana in Wildlife Biology with a certificate in Global leadership in 2021. She then worked for the Flathead Biology Station monitoring invasive species using environmental DNA. Katie is interested in studying disease ecology, population genetics, and spatial ecology. Her master's thesis focused on insect vectors and their relationship with arboviruses in the hopes of decreasing the spread and rate of infection of deadly diseases. |
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Tyler SeeleyUndergraduate Researcher, Biology major, USU
Tyler graduated from USU with a double major in Microbiology and Biology in 2025.. With other members of the Saarman Lab, Tyler focused his research on the local ecology and evolution of Culex pipiens and Culex quenquefasciatus, two local species of mosquitoes that transmit west Nile virus in central and southern Utah. He also contributed to population genetics lab work for Alkali bee conservation and management, as well as dispersal, habitat use, and Wolbachia vector control in the Aedes aegypti mosquito, one of the primary vectors of Dengue and Zika fevers. |
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Eric JenkinsCurrent: Microbiology PhD Student, Montana State University
Eric graduated from USU with a double major in Microbiology and Biology in 2025. With other members of the Saarman Lab, Eric researched the dispersal, habitat use, and Wolbachia vector control in the Aedes aegypti mosquito, population genetics of the native pollinator the Alkali bee, and local projects investigating the ecology and evolution of Culex pipiens and Culex quenquefasciatus, two local species of mosquitoes that transmit west Nile virus in central and southern Utah. |
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Ethan K. MeredithCurrent: University of Texas, Antonio, Long School of Medicine
Ethan graduated from USU with his bachelors of science in Biology in 2024. With other members of the Saarman Lab, Ethan studied dispersal and habitat use of the tsetse fly Glossina fuscipes fuscipes, the major vector of sleeping sickness and Animal African trypanosomiasis, in the Lake Victoria region of Uganda. He also helped in efforts to study the effectiveness of Wolbachia infection as a method of vector control. |
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Ryan GriffithsCurrent: Computational Biology PhD Student, Perdue University
Ryan graduated from USU with his bachelors of science in Biology in 2024. With other members of the Saarman Lab, Ryan used machine learning spatial modeling to investigate the genetic connectivity, adaptive potential, and distribution of the tsetse fly Glossina fuscipes fuscipes, the major vector of sleeping sickness and Animal African trypanosomiasis. |
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Camilla MosesCurrent: Master's Student in Environmental Engineering
Camilla graduated from USU with a bachelors in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and two minors in Mathematics and Chemistry in 2022. With other members of the Saarman lab, Camilla investigated the population structure of the tsetse fly Glossina fuscipes fuscipes across the landscape of Uganda. |
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Join the Saarman LabPlease contact Dr. Norah Saarman if you are a graduate or undergraduate student interested in joining the lab, undergraduate students welcome and encouraged!
The Saarman lab is recruiting undergraduate students! We are building a collaborative group of highly motivated students and researchers that are eager to contribute to global and local problems that can benefit from accurate prediction of population response to climate change. Research areas include ecological genomics and landscape genetics in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in southern Utah and Colombia, Culex mosquitoes across Utah and the United States, and tsetse flies in Uganda. Candidates are expected to have a strong interest in ecological and landscape genetics, and population genetics. Please visit Department of Biology Application Guidelines for more information on the application process. The Department of Biology offers excellent opportunities for education, training, funding, and collaboration. USU is located in the city of Logan in the Cache Valley of northern Utah, which offers a reasonable cost of living, abundant recreation opportunities across all four seasons, and incredible access to numerous National Parks across Utah, Montana, and Wyoming. Please visit the Biology department website biology.usu.edu/education/graduate-program/prospective_students for more information. Fill in the form to the left to learn more about opportunities in the Saarman Lab! |
