Bergey Lab

Ecological and evolutionary genomics

Photos

Jump down to see photos from:

Madagascar
Uganda
U.S. mosquito work
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Zambia
Elsewhere in Africa
Lab mascots

Lab People in the Field (mostly)

Becca DeCamp in the rainforest of Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar, with their love of tropical biology undampened by the weather. A person in a poncho stands in the rain before a backdrop of trees, lianas, and other plants.

Lindsey Hauff and Noa Elosmie Rasoanaivo collect fecal samples from brown lemurs in Ranomafana National Park for genetic analysis to assess population health. Four people are in the rainforest to take biological samples, with one woman wearing gloves and holding a tube.

Lindsey Hauff stands on a bridge in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. A woman stands on a rustic wooden bridge over a small stream in a tropical rainforest.

Stephie Raveloson, Becca DeCamp, and Miaro Faliarivola pose on the bridge over the Namorona River at the entrance to Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. Behind them is the tropical rainforest on a hazy day.

Noa Elosmie Rasoanaivo and Lindsey Hauff work to sequence the genome of the red-fronted brown lemur in the laboratory of Centre ValBio in Ranomafana, Madagascar.

Bernadette (Menja) Rabaoarivola sits next to the Nanopore MinION in Centre ValBio as it sequences the genome of a mosquito she caught earlier in the day. Menja leads the field entomology team and has been a technician at Centre ValBio since 1999.

Christina Bergey is very excited to have found red colobus (Piliocolobus tephrosceles) poop in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wearing glasses and a hat, she smiles in front of poop on leaves.

Becca DeCamp and Morgan Chaney taking a break from mosquito sampling in Ohio to purchase cheese from Grandpa's Cheesebarn. These two very excited people stand before a barn labeled GRANDPA'S CHEESEBARN.

Morgan Chaney is excited to meet a cow in Entebbe, Uganda. Smiling man stands next to cow in field.

During the COVID-19 lockdown era, the Bergey Lab went remote and much of our work was done via Zoom. Cory Henderson, Christina Bergey, and Amber Trujillo talk science despite their distance. Three people on Zoom videoconferencing.

Christina Bergey lectures about Madagascar human diversity and disease ecology to students in Rindra Rakotoarivony's graduate class at the University of Antananarivo.

Beauriche Andriambolaharijaona sampling mosquitoes with a CDC light trap outside a house near the entrance to Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar. Note the bottle of yeast and sugar to create carbon dioxide to attract mosquitoes. He adjusts a CDC light trap for mosquito collection outside a wooden house.

Rindra Rakotoarivony takes a selfie in Ranomafana National Park at the scenic overlook. Behind him are Beauriche Andriambolaharijaona, Noa Elosmie Rasoanaivo, Niainasoa Voary Andriatsarafa, and Lindsey Hauff, plus some ecotourists.

Lindsey Hauff photographs a preserved lemur from the 1920s at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. She extracted DNA from a tiny piece of it it to understand how humans have impacted wild lemur populations in the last century.

Miarisoa Ramilison presents her research on lemur viruses and cross-species transmission. She stands at a lecture before a screen with a presentation on viral DNA and RNA analysis.

Becca DeCamp poses in front of part of a preserved whale at the Explorers Club in New York City.

Rutgers undergraduate Kevin Tilton presents their work on Plasmodium-associated gene evolution across primates. Bemasked person stands before scientific poster explaining their work.

Members of the Bergey Lab, plus other Rutgers folks , pose for a photo after a visit by Dr. Patricia Wright, founder of Centre ValBio and Ranomafana National Park. People pose for a group photo after a succulent Chinese meal.

Morgan Chaney completes RAMP assays for West Nile virus for mosquitoes caught in Columbus, Ohio, at the lab of Franklin County Public Health. The visit was part of his NIH-funded NJACTS postdoctoral fellowship. Thanks to Ella Gier and Zach Holbert-Watson of Franklin County Public Health and Dr. James Radl from Vector Disease Control International.

Becca DeCamp presents their research on field-based sequencing of lemur genes.

Becca DeCamp stops to visit Stonewall on their way back from grabbing a Qiagen RNA extraction kit. They are taking a selfie before the Stonewall National Monument sign, oddly holding a kit for RNA extraction.

Becca DeCamp and Lindsey Hauff peer over a DNA sequencing run on the Oxford Nanopore MinION. Two people in masks and lab coats look at the screen of the MinION portable DNA sequencer.

Christina Bergey and Lindsey Hauff in front of the rapids in Ranomafana, Madagascar. Only one person was aware a photo was being taken. Two people in front of rocky rapids, one of whom is not looking at the camera.

Christina Bergey with an elephant bone in Kafue National Park, Zambia.

Becca DeCamp holding a photo of Becca DeCamp doing lab work at Centre ValBio research station. The original photo is lost to me. In the photo, they are sequencing the genome of the golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus).

Christina Bergey, Sylvia Kokunda (Action for Batwa Empowerment Group), and Katie Grogan (University of Cincinnati) pause for a selfie in a village near Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Miaro Faliarivola and Stephie Raveloson working in the laboratory of Centre ValBio research station.

Becca DeCamp holds a particularly feisty mouse lemur (genus Microcebus) trapped (and released) during their study on male fertility gene evolution at Centre ValBio research station in Madagascar. All lemur handling was done by trained scientists.

Bernadette (Menja) Rabaoarivola and Rindra Rakotoarivony adjust a mosquito trap in a village near Ranomafana. The bottle contains a yeast-sugar mixture that will produce carbon dioxide, mimicking a vertebrate to draw the mosquitoes into the trap. Kids are always fascinated by the work.

Christina Bergey, hiking, out of her element in temperate zones.

Becca DeCamp and the coelacanth caught off Anjouan in the Comoro Islands in 1953. The coelacanth is on display at the University of Antananarivo.

Lindsey Hauff, Christina Bergey, and Niainasoa Voary Andriatsarafa stand in front of the rapids near Centre ValBio and Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar.

Becca DeCamp looking serious in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. They are on a hiking trail with small tropical trees and bamboo shoots behind them.

Becca DeCamp on the bridge over the Namorona River leading to Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar. They pose with legs crossed before a backdrop of tropical forest.

Becca DeCamp and Stephie Raveloson prepare Sherman traps for their night of mouse lemur capture (and release) at Centre ValBio research station in Ranomafana, Madagascar.

Christina Bergey holds a microphone and recorder during a project on the vocal communication of the greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. (Photo by Sarah Zohdy)

Photos from Madagascar

A gloved hand holds a mouse lemur, illuminated by red light.

A laptop on a laboratory bench shows the readout of a portable DNA sequencer.

A brown lemur sits in a tree above a river, looking at the camera and against a rainforest backdrop.

A field of tea, with mountains and a blue sky with clouds in the background.

A mouse lemur captured and released as part of a project on reproductive timing led by Becca DeCamp. This one is well-prepared for his shot at reproduction. All lemurs are being handled by trained researchers for scientific purposes.

A lemur with bright blue eyes and golden fur.

A giant water bug against a tile floor.

A weevil climbs a glass window reflecting Malagasy houses.

A golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus) sits on giant bamboo (Cathariostachys madagascariensis; volohosy) in Ranomafana National Park. Our lab works to understand how bamboo lemurs have adapted to their bamboo diet, which contains a massive amount of cyanide, using genomics.

A Malagasy flag flies on a wooden pole in front of a granite mountain.

A man standing on an outrigger canoe with a sail.

A small waterfall set among tropical plants.

A swarm of small insects cover a laptop.

A backlit silhouette of a man wearing a brimmed hat.

A red and yellow heat lamp over a red roller.

A hoopoe bird sits on a branch.

A landscape of houses and rice fields with mountains in the distance

A slightly overhead shot of houses, mostly made of red brick with thatch roofs.

A giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa), endemic to Madagascar, crawls on a heart-shaped leaf in Ranomafana National Park. Photo by Becca DeCamp.

A golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus) peers down from a tree in Ranomafana National Park. Their discovery was the impetus for the creation of the national park. Photo by Becca DeCamp.

Two researchers pour liquid nitrogen, produced on site, into a Dewar flask in Centre ValBio's BSL-2 molecular biology laboratory.

Dr. Santatra Randrianarisoa, DVM, a wildlife veterinary with Mahaliana Labs, ensures the mouse lemurs in our study are well-looked-after until their release back into the park.

A Sherman trap mounted to a branch to capture mouse lemurs, for a study on the impact of climate change on their carefully-timed reproduction.

View of Ranomafana National Park from Varibolo restaurant, with cat.

Photos from Uganda

Puppies on Bugala Island near Mweena, part of the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria in Uganda. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

Mural in Bwindi Community Hospital in southwestern Uganda.

A view of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in southwest Uganda.

The maternity room of Bwindi Community Hospital, founded in 2003 initially to serve the Batwa rainforest hunter-gatherers who were displaced when their home, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, was made a National Park in 1991.

Excited about a haul of mosquitoes from Banda Island, part of the Ssese islands in Lake Victoria in Uganda. Ink stained hand of Christina Bergey, expert tube writer. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

An Ankole-Watusi cow in the Ssese Islands, Uganda.

Some olive baboons (Papio anubis) along a road in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda.

Boda bodas (motorbikes) at Bwindi Community Hospital, used by the Community Health Workers to travel to Batwa and Bakiga settlements to provide care.

A vista showing the contrast between an area cleared for agriculture in the foreground and the preserved Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the back.

The sign for the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) in Entebbe, Uganda. The research center is the site of the Zika forest, the namesake and discovery locale for the Zika virus. Since its founding in 1936, UVRI researchers have discovered other famous viruses including Chikungunya virus, West Nile virus, Bwamba virus, Semliki Forest virus, O'nyong'nyong virus, and Kadam virus.

Dr. Martin Lukindu of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), happy about the mosquito haul on Banda Island in the Ssese archipelago in Lake Victoria. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

Vista overlooking Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.

Our tent home during our island hopping mosquito collection weeks on the Ssese Islands.

A sunset seen from Lutoboka on Bugala Island, part of the Ssese archipelago. Our boat is visible. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

A baby chimpanzee at the Ngama Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, who was severely injured and had to be raised by humans for his first year. He was born to a low-ranking, young female unexpectedly after a contraception failure. He's named Eazy and is back with the other chimps roaming 95 acres of natural forest daily.

Kevin Nakato, entomologist with Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), samples mosquitoes from homes despite the early morning hour and the rain. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

Fish drying in the sun on the Ssese Islands before export to D.R.C. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

Kevin Nakato, entomologist with the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), emerges from a home on Nsadzi Island after sampling mosquitoes. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

Typical homes in Lwanabayta villages on the island of Bukasa, part of the Ssese Islands in Uganda. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

Mosquito nets not being used for their intended purpose in Myende on Kome Island, part of the Ssese Islands archipelago. The owner is using netting to protect their thatch roof from pests. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

Dogs guard a floating tilapia farm on Lake Victoria in Uganda. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

A chameleon in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, southwest Uganda.

A sunset over Lake Victoria, seen from Lutoboka on Bugala Island. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

Snails (and trash) on the cost of Lake Victoria on the Ssese Islands, where schistosomiasis (AKA snail fever) rates are high. Freshwater snails release flatworms which can then parasitize humans who swim or wade through the water. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

The inside of a nice wattle and daub house with a corrugated metal room on the Ssese Islands. Photo by Rachel Wiltshire.

Map showing the catchment area of Bwindi Community Hospital and the community health program that travels to far-flung settlements of Batwa and Bakiga individuals.

A view of the Ugandan highlands from a road outside Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Photos from U.S.A. mosquito work

Morgan Chaney completes RAMP assays for West Nile virus for mosquitoes caught in Columbus, Ohio, at the lab of Franklin County Public Health. The visit was part of his NIH-funded NJACTS postdoctoral fellowship. Thanks to Ella Gier and Zach Holbert-Watson of Franklin County Public Health and Dr. James Radl from Vector Disease Control International.

A CDC light trap is set up to catch mosquitoes in upstate New York.

A mosquito that found its way into the car during a field season in Ohio.

Ninety-six eastern treehole mosquitoes (Aedes triseriatus) from Ohio are readied for shipment to have their RNA sequenced to understand what microbes they contain.

Chili served over spaghetti, as is typical in Ohio apparently. Used to fuel entomologists during collection season.

Mosquitoes caught in netting from a CDC light trap in Ohio.

Sorting mosquitoes caught during surveys in Kent, Ohio.

Photos from D.R. Congo

Christina Bergey is excited to have found red colobus feces in the D.R.C. The sample would be used for genetic analyses.

A juvenile lesula Cercopithecus lomamiensis) in Obenge, D.R.C. The new-to-science species was discovered in the Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba (TL2) region in 2007 and confirmed in 2012. The area would eventually become part of Lomami National Park.

A bird (papyrus yellow warbler, I think, but I know nothing of birds) caught in a mist net as part of surveys in the Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba region of the D.R.C. with John Hart.

A bonobo from the Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary in Kinshasa, D.R.C.

The field team for an early leg of the journey surveying and sampling primates in the Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba (TL2) region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The expedition was led by Dr. Kate Detwiler (Florida Atlantic University; back row second from right). We're at the KK/4 camp.

A typical camp in the Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba (TL2) region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), led by John and Terese Hart. Now the area is protected as Lomami National Park.

A bonobo from the Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary in Kinshasa, D.R.C.

Christina Bergey does some analyses in Obenge in the Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba (TL2) region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Now the area is protected as Lomami National Park. (Photo by Kate Detwiler)

A panorama of the Lomami River at Katopa Camp. We spent several days in the large pirogue shown.

An infant black crested mangabey (Lophocebus aterrimus) on the arm of a wildlife ranger. The infant was seized by the authority.

A motorbike, which we used to travel overland in what would become Lomami National Park. We hit 60 kmh (37 mph) on jungle paths bared wide enough for two people to walk abreast.

An example of people, a motorbike, and supplies crossing a small river in what would become Lomami National Park. Smaller rivers were forded, but the motorbikes had to be loaded into dug-out canoes to cross the larger rivers. Memorably, we crossed the Congo River with six motorbikes in massive pirogues under nightfall when we entered Kisangani.

A Wolf's guenon (Cercopithecus wolfi) in what would become Lomami National Park, DRC.

Photos from Zambia

A kinda baboon (Papio kindae) in Kafue National Park, Zambia.

Dr. Kenny Chiou (University of Alabama at Birmingham) in Ngoma, Zambia.

The paw print of a lion outside our tents in Kafue National Park, Zambia.

A kinda baboon (Papio kindae) in Kafue National Park, Zambia.

A kinda baboon (Papio kindae) in the Chunga Training School for Wildlife Police Officers in Kafue National Park, Zambia.

Lions block the road near Chunga Camp in Kafue National Park, Zambia.

Sunset over Lake Itezhi-Tezhi as seen from Chibela Camp in Ngoma, Zambia in the Kafue National Park.

The Zambia Kinda baboon expedition team. Led by Dr. Cliff Jolly and Dr. Jane Phillips-Conroy.

Photos from Elsewhere in Africa

Peringuey's desert adder (Bitis peringueyi) in the Namib Desert.

A cape chacma baboon (Papio ursinus griseipes) in the Tokai Forest in Cape Town, South Africa.

Mother and infant cape chacma baboons (Papio ursinus griseipes) in the Tokai Forest in Cape Town, South Africa.

Christina Bergey atop Dune 45 in the Sossusvlei area of the Namib Desert in Namibia.

Christina Bergey atop Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.

Christina Bergey (mostly her feet) on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.

A typical vista in Namibia.

Sunset in Namibia.

A rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) in southern Africa.

Sossusvlei in the Namib Desert.

Christina Bergey at the Tropic of Capricorn, northwest of Solitaire on the road to to Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Photos of Lab Mascots

Becca DeCamp and Indri (Photo by Khaled Bhuiyan)

Lindsey Hauff and Koba

Kittucine Alfredo and Agatha Christine, part of Morgan Chaney's household.

Lizzie (RIP)