We are a team of researchers at Syracuse University in the biology department. Please get in touch if you are interested in opportunities to join us!

Dr. Angela Oliverio

Assistant Professor

Angela is an Assistant Professor at Syracuse University in the Biology Department as of August, 2022. Previously, she was an NSF Rules of Life Postdoctoral Fellow working with Mark Bradford (Yale) and Kelly Wrighton (Colorado State). Before that Angela worked in the biotech industry as computational biologist at Invitae on the data sciences team. She completed her PhD in the Fierer Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

[twitter: @am_oliverio] [Google Scholar] [GitHub] [email: amoliver@syr.edu]

Rachel Shepherd

PhD Candidate

Rachel Shepherd received both her BS and MS in Entomology and Nematology from the University of Florida. Her MS degree focused on the impact of gopher tortoises on soil microbial communities. Interactions between aboveground and belowground communities is still her major research interests at Syracuse University in the Oliverio lab. Outside of the lab, Rachel enjoys spending time with her cats, gardening, and refinishing thrifted furniture.

[email: rmshephe@syr.edu]

Nimshika Pinto Jayathilaka Senewiratne

PhD Candidate

Nimshika received a BS in Microbiology from University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. In her current research she uses synthetic communities developed from sourdough starter microbiomes to uncover how microbiomes evolve and assemble. Her BS project focused on using synthetic bacterial communities developed on biochar to increase the rates of enzyme production. Outside of the lab, Nimshika enjoys baking.

[email: npsenewi@syr.edu]
[github: https://github.com/Nimshika%5D

Beryl Rappaport

PhD Student

Beryl earned a B.A. in Biological Sciences from Smith College studying nuclear architecture in foraminifera. She is interested in studying microbial community assembly and microbial eukaryotic evolution. Beryl also runs Diatomic Glass, creating flameworked glass art inspired by microbes, and enjoys spending time with her cat, Pizza Bagel.

[email: hbrappap@syr.edu]

Cammie Murray

Research Technician

Cammie earned a B.S. in Microbiology with a minor in Entomology from the Pennsylvania State University in 2024. She is interested in studying microbial community assembly and interactions and getting the world to care about the tiny microbes that surround us. Outside of the lab, Cammie enjoys reading, crafting, and looking for critters outside.

Naomi Gilbert

Postdoctoral fellow

Naomi joined the lab as a postdoc during the Fall of 2025. Previously, she completed a BS in Biotechnology at James Madison University and her PhD within the Aquatic Microbial Ecology Research Group at the University of TN. During her PhD, she studied open-ocean microbial and viral ecology in the sub-Antarctic Southern Ocean and the Sargasso Sea. She then joined the µBiospheres SFA research group at Lawrence Livermore National Lab as a postdoctoral scientist where she studied algal-bacterial interactions at the microscale and community level. Outside of the lab, Naomi enjoys hiking, climbing, and visiting local breweries with her dogs.

Baby Kitten

Lab Mascot

Part-time Lab Members

Undergraduates
Dilara Aslan (OCC, 2026- present)
Jessica Carter (2026- present)
Beryl Braden (2025- present)
Emily Negron (2025- present)
Joanna Lepper (2025- present)
Melanie Paige Perez (2025- present)
Hannah Murphy (Honors Student; 2025- present)
Ryan Skidmore (OCC, 2025- present)

Former Lab Members

Olivia Rojo-Nava (M.S. Biology, 2022-2024)
Olivia Brown (Research assistant; OCC; 2024)

Undergraduates
Charles Deyo (OCC, 2025)
Simona Milev (2025)
Riya Singh (2025)
Angela Haller (2024-2025)
Zein Nanla (SU undergraduate; Spring-Summer 2024)
Zola Rosa Crosetti Thomas (2024)
Destiny Jackson-Parker (OCC, 2023)
Chris Eschbacher (OCC, 2023)
Jamiya Chandler (OCC, 2023)