Community Values

In the Elias lab, we strive to be an inclusive, collaborative space. We work towards incorporating intersectional ideas and diverse viewpoints to understand biological questions. Research does not exist in a vacuum, and we endeavor to interrogate how culture and society influence the ways we study the natural world to liberate us and our work from oppressive ideologies. Through this, we aim to create a lab culture that encourages collaboration, individual growth, and intellectual exploration.

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Our Team

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Damian Elias (He/Him)

Principal Investigator

Damian is the lab’s principal investigator (PI) and is currently the William M. and Esther G. Schlinger Chair in Systematic Entomology. He is a first-generation college student raised in the borderlands between the US and Mexico. His academic career has included stops at the University of Arizona (BSc), Cornell University (PhD in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior with Ron Hoy), the University of Toronto at Scarborough (with Andrew Mason), and the University of British Columbia (with Wayne Maddison). He enjoys collecting odd objects (records, ceramics, books, etc.).

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    Trinity Walls (She/Her)

    PhD Student

    Trinity is a finishing PhD student studying mating behavior, communication, and hybridization in sympatric Phidippus jumping spiders. She is also passionate about science communication and outreach, especially regarding arachnids. In her free time, she enjoys salsa/bachata dancing, singing, searching for spiders, and tending to her many pets. Feel free to ask her a spider question at any time!

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    Lin Yan (She/Her)

    PhD Student

    Lin is a graduate student in the lab who is interested in understanding the diversification of Habronattus jumping spiders. When she is not in the lab, she is busy playing sports, cooking, and conspiring to steal her friends’ cats.

    See Lin’s Google Scholar here!

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    Jacob Gorneau (He/Him)

    PhD Student

    Jacob Gorneau is a PhD student in the Elias Lab and the EvoLab (Gillespie). He works primarily on arachnid evolution and systematics in the context of museum-based biology but enjoys connecting these topics to recent and geologic change, as well as putting these evolutionary relationships in the context of traits, such as behavior. In his free time he enjoys exploring bakeries, restaurants, hiking, and camping.

    See Jacob’s personal website here!

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    Sophie Hanson (She/Her)

    PhD Student

    Sophie is a PhD student at UC Berkeley. Her research interests lie at the interface of biomechanics, evolution, and comparative organismal biology. Sophie is fascinated by evolutionary diversity and the mechanistic tradeoffs found across species and sizes. This has led her to study the physics and evolution of unique biological movements, such as rapid scorpion strikes and agile jumping spider jumps. In her free time, she enjoys catching crayfish in Strawberry Creek and finding a good sunset spot.

    See Sophie’s Google Scholar page here!

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    Noah Leith (He/Him)

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    Noah is interested in how complex communication evolves, and how communication shapes animals’ ecological and evolutionary responses to global environmental change. In his free time, he also loves card games and sci-fi novels!

    See Noah’s personal website here!

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    Roxie Baggott (She/They)

    Lab Manager

    Roxie is going into her 4th year as an undergrad at UC Berkeley. She studies Molecular Environmental Biology, and in her free time she likes to run, play music, and go to the park with her dog.

    They are currently researching husbandry and maternal care for the Phidippus regius or the Regal Jumping Spider.

  • A close-up of a tabby cat with green eyes and a pink nose, wearing a blue bow tie with yellow ducks. The background has shelves and posters, including a partially visible Star Wars poster and a sign with the word 'OUT'.

    Jasmine Landeros

    Undergraduate

    Jasmine is going into their 3rd year as a UC Berkeley undergrad studying Molecular Environmental Biology. They enjoy playing music and hanging out with their cats, Ravioli and Bazooka.

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    Nuala M Giffen (She/Her)

    Undergraduate

    Nuala is a senior at cal from Los Angelos (Burbank). Some of her favorite hobbies include reading, thrifting and playing soccer. She loves being outside whether it’s hiking, going to the beach, or camping! She is really interested in animals and wants to work with endangered species in the future.

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    Jiyun Ahn (she/her)

    Undergraduate

    Jiyun is a current junior studying Microbiology in the College of Natural Resources. She has been apart of the Elias Lab since my freshman summer and enjoys working with the spiders. Her role is to take care the spiders and help any graduate students with their personal projects. She’s happy to answer questions about lab work or being a student at Cal!

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    Charlie Rhymes (She/Her)

    Undergraduate

    Charlie is a 4th year psychology student finishing her undergrad. She hopes to pursue a masters in social work and is currently working and interested in harm reduction services in the Bay Area. She enjoys hiking, snowboarding, and foraging and plays saxophone for the Cal Marching Band!

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    Anthony Paez (He/They)

    Undergraduate

    Anthony is a UC Berkeley student graduating in 2028. He likes praying mantises, playing the bass, and NBA highlight edits on tik-toks!

  • A smiling woman wearing scrubs and a watch holds a small, fluffy dog with a hairless body in a veterinary clinic. The background shows shelves with supplies and metal cages.

    Maxine Zigmond Ramm (She/Her)

    Undergraduate

    Maxine just started at the Elias Lab after deciding to go back to school to get a post bachelors degree, she loves her dogs and cats! She loves making jewelry and doing arts and crafts, and her favorite food is peanut butter!

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    Ella Sue Weisman (they/she)

    Ella is a Sophomore at UC Berkeley majoring in Society and Environment and Media Studies who loves Arthropods in any way shape and form! She loves baking, cooking, and making food for others, and is always super excited to be working with both her teammates and the creepy crawlies!

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    Xizhe (Kevin) Wang (he/him)

    Undergraduate

    Xizhe Wang (preferred name, Kevin) is in the Class of 2029, and from Shenzhen, China which is close to Hong Kong. He did all four years of high school in Virginia at a private boarding school, but what made him want come to west coast is Cal’s great academics. He’s excited to try living in California, especially since it’s a shorter flight to China. A fun fact about Kevin is that he is afraid of roller coasters but has been skydiving!

  • A woman with long dark hair, wearing headphones, standing in front of a wall with framed pictures. She has a necklace with a sun-shaped pendant and a nose piercing, smiling softly.

    Beck Jacobs (she/her)

    Undergraduate

    Beck is a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Genetics and Plant Biology with aspirations of becoming a medical geneticist. Her goal is to work with cancer patients—an area of medicine that holds deep personal meaning, as cancer has profoundly impacted people close to her. She is passionate about understanding how genetic mechanisms drive disease and how advances in genomic medicine can lead to more targeted and compassionate care.

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    Justine Moon (she/her)

    Undergraduate

    Justine is a junior transfer student at Berkeley majoring in Molecular Environmental Biology. She recently transferred here from Orange Coast College in SoCal and also has a twin sister who goes there. She's been deeply involved in learning about California native plants, native bees, and most recently, spiders!

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    Sylvia Tuerke (she/her)

    Undergraduate

    Sylvia (she/her) is a first-year student at UC Berkeley majoring in Molecular Environmental Biology. She enjoys cooking, spending time outside, photography, and rewatching Little Women. A fun fact is that she has never worn a matching pair of socks before.

  • A young man making a peace sign and a finger gun gesture, standing on a rooftop parking lot with palm trees, a busy highway, and mountains in the background on a sunny day.

    Jared Reyes (he/him)

    Jared is a 4th year at UC Berkeley majoring in Integrative Biology with a minor in Global Public Health. Something he enjoys is playing basketball and running. A fun fact is that he accidentally got stuck in Mexico in the summer before coming up to Berkeley.

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    Noor Layal Ihsan (she/her)

    Noor Layal joined the lab in October 2025 as a volunteer on the Animal Care team.

    During her undergraduate studies as a psychology major, she was introduced to neurobiology. Alongside caring for her own menagerie of invertebrates, her exposure to the field deepened her intrigue with biodiversity and evolution across arthropod lineages.

    These experiences shifted her academic trajectory, inspiring her to pursue graduate study in biology.

  • A man with long brown hair and a beard, wearing a black cap with rainbow embroidery, holds a large goat with brown and white fur. The man is smiling and squinting in the sunlight, and they are outdoors near a metal fenced area with a partly cloudy sky in the background.

    Aaron Balbo (he/him)

    Lab Alumni and Affiliate

    Aaron graduated in 2021! He enjoys making art, sculptures, building, repairing, and organizing things. His ideal day involves talking with a spider and feeding a goat.

  • Jacob Saffarian (he/him)

    Lab Affiliate

    Jacob Saffarian graduated from UC Berkeley in 2022. He currently works as a photographer and science communicator. His current obsession is astrophotography, and you can learn more about him on his website linked here!

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    Daphne (She/Her)

    “The Lab Lab”

    Daphne is one year old lab who works endlessly to keep spirits high in the Elias lab. Whether it’s greeting every lab member at the door with kisses and cuddles or reminding everyone that there’s always time for a snack, Daphne is keeping everyone in check at the lab!

Alumni

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Photo by Marshal Hedin

All of those who have passed through the Elias lab have made a profound impact that continues to be appreciated today. Here is what some of our previous members, including former graduate students, lab managers, and post-doctoral researchers, are doing today!

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    Ignacio Escalante (He/Him)

    PhD Student in the Elias Lab (2014-2020)

    Ignacio studies biomechanics and behavioral ecology and currently works as an assistant professor at University of Illinois - Chicago as an assistant professor. While Ignacio has published several papers with members of our lab and elsewhere, a standout paper is “Rapid recovery of locomotor performance after leg loss in harvestmen” which is also featured in our literature page! A fun fact about Ignacio is that in his time at Berkeley, he ate a lot of carnitas tacos from Taqueria Sinaloa. Click the link below to see his personal website.

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    Benji Kessler (He/Him)

    PhD Student in the Elias Lab (2015-2020)

    Benji studies sensory ecology, prey capture, and sexual selection and now teaches at Albany High School and is Founder of Joy Tutoring. Before his time with our lab, he received his bachelors from Dartmouth College in 2013. A fun fact about Benji is that he used to DM the lab’s Dungeons & Dragons campaign! To see his google scholar, click the link below.

    Click Here