Principal Investigator, Kelsey Witt Dillon
Kelsey is an Assistant Professor at Clemson University, and joined the Center for Human Genetics and the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry in 2023. Her research interests include population genomics, demography, ancient DNA, archaic introgression, and domestication. Prior to working at Clemson, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Computational and Molecular Biology at Brown University and the University of California-Merced, advised by Emilia Huerta-Sanchez. She received her PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, supervised by Ripan Malhi. Outside the lab, she enjoys knitting, reading science fiction, playing video games, baking, and spending time with her husband, daughter, and dogs.
Kelsey is an Assistant Professor at Clemson University, and joined the Center for Human Genetics and the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry in 2023. Her research interests include population genomics, demography, ancient DNA, archaic introgression, and domestication. Prior to working at Clemson, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Computational and Molecular Biology at Brown University and the University of California-Merced, advised by Emilia Huerta-Sanchez. She received her PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, supervised by Ripan Malhi. Outside the lab, she enjoys knitting, reading science fiction, playing video games, baking, and spending time with her husband, daughter, and dogs.
PhD Students
Matt Barker
Matt began his graduate program as a PhD student in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University in 2023. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology with a concentration in genetics and evolution from the University of Montana in Missoula. Upon graduating, Matt worked at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where he was a postbaccalaureate fellow in Benjamin White’s lab. Some of his research interests include evolutionary biology, computational biology, human genomics, and archaic introgression. He enjoys cooking, exploring new places, and spending time with family, friends, and his tiny dog, Ralphy. |
Master's Students
Katie Palmer
Katie began her Master’s program in 2024 after graduating from her undergraduate studies at Clemson with a degree in genetics and a minor in anthropology. She is continuing to study genetics in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry on the non-thesis track. In 2023, she spent the summer working in Dr. Lela Lackey’s lab, at the Clemson University Center for Human Genetics, working on RNA shape mapping by processing samples and analyzing the data. Her research interests include human genetics, epigenetics, evolutionary biology, and developmental biology. In her free time, she enjoys playing pickleball, trying new recipes, reading, and spending time at lake Hartwell with her friends.
Katie began her Master’s program in 2024 after graduating from her undergraduate studies at Clemson with a degree in genetics and a minor in anthropology. She is continuing to study genetics in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry on the non-thesis track. In 2023, she spent the summer working in Dr. Lela Lackey’s lab, at the Clemson University Center for Human Genetics, working on RNA shape mapping by processing samples and analyzing the data. Her research interests include human genetics, epigenetics, evolutionary biology, and developmental biology. In her free time, she enjoys playing pickleball, trying new recipes, reading, and spending time at lake Hartwell with her friends.