I did my PhD at the University of Washington, Seattle, in the area of Stochastic Processes. After that, I worked at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as a Visiting Assistant Professor. From 2018, I worked as a permanent faculty member at the University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Mathematics & Statistics.
Monika Gulia-Nuss
The long-term interest of my research program is to understand the biology of disease vectors to identify novel strategies for vector control and pathogen transmission. My lab focuses on two arthropod vectors of human diseases: mosquitoes and ticks. Our research spans multiple disciplines, including ecology, biochemistry and physiology, genetics, genomics, and computational biology, to investigate questions related to arthropod biology. We employ techniques that encompass molecular, cellular, and organismal levels of studies. Since setting up my lab at UNR in 2016, the most significant research contributions of my program have been 1) pioneering an embryo injection protocol for ticks, 2) the first successful use of CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing in ticks, 3) producing the first chromosome-level genome assembly for a tick species, and 4) adapting and optimizing a RADseq protocol (Rapture) for genome-wide markers to understand population genetic structure of mosquitoes and ticks. In addition, we have recently initiated a project for the identification of biomarkers for early diagnostics of Lyme disease.
Kevin Shoemaker
Broadly, I’m interested in coupling ecological data (e.g., census records, mark-recapture data, remote sensing) with simulation models, statistics and machine learning to support evidence-based conservation and wildlife management.
Pradeep Menezes
Dr. Menezes is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. Before joining the University, he worked as an adjunct assistant professor in the Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and post-doctoral research associate in the Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Pittsburgh.
Tin-Yau Tam
Professor Tin-Yau Tam received his B.Sc. in 1982 and Ph.D. (Mathematics) in 1986, both from the University of Hong Kong in 1986. He currently serves as the Department Mathematics and Statistics Chair & Professor, and Seneca C. and Mary B. Weeks Chair of Mathematics at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). He was selected as Lloyd and Sandra Nix Endowed Professor (2012-2015) at Auburn University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics Chair (2012-2018), Director of Assessment and Planning (2000-2012) for the College of Sciences and Mathematics (2020-2012) before he joined UNR. Tam’s areas of specialization are Matrix Theory, Multilinear Algebra, Numerical Ranges, Differential Geometry, Lie Theory, and their applications. To date, Tam has authored or coauthored about 115 research papers (35 are single-authored papers) and a research monograph Matrix Inequalities and their Extensions to Lie Groups, CRC/Taylor & Francis Group, 2018. He serves on the editorial boards of three peer-reviewed math journals: Linear and Multilinear Algebra, Electronic Linear Algebra, and Special Matrices. He has delivered more than 250 talks and a few of them were keynote lectures and plenary talks. He has organized many international math workshops and conferences. Tam has graduated 10 Ph.D. students. He served on the Board of Director (2009-2013) and the Advisory Committee (2020-2022) of the International Linear Algebra Society. He currently serves on the Scientific Committee of the International Research Center on Tensor and Matrix Theory at Shanghai University (since 2016) and the Board of Governors of Pacific Journal of Mathematics (since 2021).
Scott Morrison
Scott has served as WNC’s Accreditation Liaison Officer with NWCCU since 2017 and as an NWCCU evaluator since 2015. Scott’s recent accomplishments include partnering with colleagues and communities on dual credit to build WNC’s Jump Start College Program, expanding cohorts to support underserved populations, revising WNC’s learning outcomes and assessment practices to align with institutional goals, and helping to lead a full revision of the Western’s strategic plan.
M. Rashed Khan
Khan Lab@UNR aims to study, design, and develop soft materials, unconventional processes, and reconfigurable micro/nanodevices that can be harnessed and optimized further for advanced biochemical, biomedical, and physicochemical applications. The lab is also keen to establish a multidisciplinary smart-manufacturing research group, including researchers from various backgrounds. Through short and long-term active collaboration, Khan Lab@UNR would like to address fundamental challenges associated with soft micro-device fabrication, 3D/4D (bio)printing, and patterning, advanced hybrid sensor manufacturing, biomedical device development – which are still unnoticed and under-explored, and need further investigation.
Additionally, our group also focuses on computational neuroscience and neurobioengineering. Under this research direction, we study human brain, brain functions, brain structure so that the established knowledge can be broadly applicable to general biomecical science and knowledge of the brain and brain-diseases.
Andrew Zuza
I am a field-based structural geologist that studies how the Earth’s continental crust deforms. My research primarily involves detailed field mapping coupled with quantitative analyses, such as mineral/rock dating, examination of rocks in microscopes, and geochemical analyses.