
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 cat Amelia Grace, who is objectively the best cat on the planet.
Graduate Students

Ethan Tucker
Ethan is pursuing his Master’s degree in Biological Sciences. He is interested in understanding how the larval immune system shapes the microbiome. Hailing from Mississippi State with a degree in microbiology, Ethan is growing accustomed to his new wardrobe in Auburn blue and orange.

Jessica Gore
WIP

Nick Kraieski
Nick Kraieski is a Marine Biology Major from Georgia. Nick’s strengths include microscopy, biochemistry, and evolution. Nick’s weakness is remembering lists formatted with bullet points. He is planning to pursue a PhD in biology.

Tyler Smith
Undergraduate Students

Amelia Williams
Amelia Williams is a Biomedical Sciences major from Birmingham, Alabama. To the confusion of the rest of the lab, her favorite class thus far has been Organic Chemistry. While the best thing about Amelia may be that she shares a name with Dr. Buckley’s cat, her work on the larval immune response to different pathogens is also excellent. She is planning to attend medical school and is considered the fan favorite amongst her peers in the lab.

Madilyn Miller
WIP

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

Will Merrill
WIP

Connor Sisk
WIP

Auburn Last name
WIP

You!?
We are actively looking for PhD students who are interested in uncovering fundamental properties of animal immunity. 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.