
Kate Buckley, PhD
As an undergraduate, Dr. Buckley studied biochemistry at Hood College in Frederick, MD. She became an evolutionary immunologist during her PhD work at George Washington University. After postdocs at the University of Toronto and Carnegie Mellon University, she moved to Auburn.
When not in the lab, you can find her scouring estate sales, turning bacon fat into soap, or with her cats Amelia Grace and Wilbur Murray, who are objectively the best cats on the planet.
Graduate Students

Nick Kraieski
Originally hailing from Georgia, Nick graduated from AU in 2021 with an undergraduate degree in marine biology. He joins the lab as our resident expert in microscopy, biochemistry, and evolution. Nick’s weakness is remembering lists formatted with bullet points. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree.

Tyler Smith
Tyler Smith grew up in Pennsylvania, which is objectively the greatest of the states. He is taller than one might suspect, and strongly prefers developmental biology to immunology. He received an undergraduate degree from AU and is currently pursuing a PhD. He would like to point out that he is also a fan favorite in the lab.

Amelia Williams
Amelia Williams is from Birmingham, Alabama. After graduating from AU with a degree in Biomedical Sciences, she has decided to pursue a PhD in echinoderm immunology. To the confusion of the rest of the lab, her favorite class thus far has been Organic Chemistry. Arguably, the best thing about Amelia may be that she shares a name with Dr. Buckley’s cat. She keeper of the Instagram and a fan favorite in the lab.
Lab Technician

Madilyn Miller
Madilyn currently has the two most difficult jobs in the lab: keeping the rest of the students organized and letting Dr. Buckley know when her “jokes” are “too corny”. She recently graduated from AU and plans to attend Optometry school.

Abbey Behler
Abbey Behler is a Microbial, Cellular & Molecular Biology Major with an emphasis on Microbiology from New Jersey. She is using ATAC-Seq to identify regions of DNA that regulate gene expression during immune response. Abbey is remarkably good at fantasy football and plans to pursue an MD/PhD in immunology.

Jessie Broach
WIP

Andrew Mayer
WIP

Jackson Howard
WIP

Connor Sisk
WIP

You!?
The Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn has funded positions available for both Master’s and PhD level graduate students. Contact Dr. Buckley for more details.