Welcome to our new Lab Technician, Maranda!

With the new year comes exciting news! The Lebenzon Lab is growing and we are excited to welcome our Lab Technician, Maranda van Oirschot. Maranda comes to us from the east coast, where she did an impressive amount of independent undergraduate research on cricket freeze tolerance at St. FX with Dr. Jantina Toxopeus. Maranda brings her insect physiology skillset to the lab where she will be setting up our lab space, growing our beetle colonies, and exploring mechanisms of cold tolerance in Colorado potato beetles.

Check out some of Maranda’s past work!

Adams, van Oirschot and Toxopeus (2024) HSP70 is upregulated after heat but not freezing stress in the freeze-tolerant cricket Gryllus veletis. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A

van Oirschot and Toxopeus (2024) Freeze-tolerant crickets fortify their actin cytoskeleton in fat body tissue. BioRxiv