Liz Troy

Ph.D. Student

Liz received undergraduate degrees in Biology and Spanish from the University of Virginia, where she studied pollinator-vectored plant pathogen ecology. Her dissertation research focuses on co-infecting pathogens, using molecular, laboratory, and field-based approaches to investigate immune-mediated facilitation and the effects of experimental warming on seasonal disease epidemics and the leaf microbiome.

Dalia Chen

Ph.D. Student

Dalia received her undergraduate degree in Plant Sciences from the University of Maryland, where she studied the thermal tolerance of a pollinator-vectored plant pathogen. She is interested in how abiotic and biotic conditions affect pathogen interaction within a host over the growing season.

Josh Leon

Ph.D. Student

Josh earned his undergraduate degree in Bioinformatics from Utah Valley University, where he developed a strong interest in plant-microbe interactions—particularly the role of beneficial microbes in helping plants cope with abiotic and biotic stress. At UNC, Josh is investigating how disturbances to plant hosts influence the structure of the phyllosphere microbiome. His research also explores how plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions shape disease dynamics in plant systems.

Katie Taylor

Undergraduate Student

Katie is a senior undergraduate student studying biology and environmental microbiology. She is interested in researching the effects of climate change on interactions between host plant development, disease, and microbial ecology.

Noa Sherwood

Undergraduate Student

Noa is a Junior undergraduate student majoring in Biology and minoring in Chinese and Music. He is interested in researching the effects of climate change on host-pathogen interactions.

Sandhya Sathis

Undergraduate Student

Sandhya is a junior majoring in Biology and Community & Global Public Health. Her research interests lie in infectious disease, environmental variation, and climate change.

Carly Scott

Postdoctoral Associate

Carly received her PhD from the University of Texas at Austin where she studied how the coral holobiont responds to climate change. She’s broadly interested in leveraging genomic tools to understand the eco-evolutionary dynamics of symbionts on short time scales, which drove her transition from coral to fungal pathogens.

Susan Cleary

Lab Manager

Susan currently serves as the lab manager of Mitchell lab, working to ensure that both lab and field work run smoothly so that the lab’s research goals are reached. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from Trinity University, with a background in plant biology, mycology, and ecological restoration.

Tyler Interrante

Project Manager

Tyler received his undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma (OU)—go Sooners!—where his interest in data first took root. He now works as a project manager, supporting ongoing research and lab operations by providing institutional knowledge, timeline development, and organizational assistance across multiple projects. Tyler is passionate about open science and firmly believes that knowledge should be shareable—especially with his dogs (yes, they all have advanced degrees!). With a strong appreciation for clear communication, he specializes in visualizing complex biological data in ways that are accessible to both researchers and non-specialists.

Dr. Charles Mitchell

Principle Investigator

My research group investigates the community ecology of infectious disease. We study pathogens infecting wild plants, chiefly grasses. My main current interest is how seasonal epidemics of infectious diseases can be shaped by the combination of climate variation and ecological interactions among multiple species of coinfecting parasites or pathogens.