Prof. Alison Ravenscraft

Alison was a graduate student in Peay Lab from 2012 to 2016. She originally planned to do her PhD in insect conservation, but when Dr. Peay joined the faculty she discovered the endlessly fascinating world of microbial ecology. She ended up studying the structure and function of the butterfly gut microbiome, coadvised by Dr. Peay and Dr. Carol Boggs. After graduating, Alison did an NIH-funded PERT postdoctoral fellowship with Molly Hunter at the University of Arizona, where she studied the implications of environmental symbiont acquisition in the stinkbug-Burkholderiasymbiosis. In September 2019 she joined the faculty of University of Texas, Arlington as an assistant professor. Her lab (https://www.ravenscraftlab.com/) studies the ecology of the insect microbiome. Alison uses the skills and theory she learned in Peay Lab every day, continues to enjoy the love of delicious mushrooms she acquired, and highly recommends that more aspiring entomologists consider being adopted by mycologists.