Principal Investigator:

Rachel M. Penczykowski, Associate Professor
How I pronounce my last name:

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Link to CV (updated 24 August 2026)
Top 3 favorite plants besides Plantago:
1. Coffea arabica (coffee)
2. Brassica oleracea (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc…)
3. Helianthus annuus (sunflower)
Click here for contact info

Lab Manager:

Carrie Goodson
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Top 3 favorite plants besides Plantago:
1. Adiantum raddianum (maidenhair fern)
2. Brugmansia (angel trumpet)
3. Welwitschia mirabilis
Email: cgoodson@wustl.edu

Post-Doctoral Researcher:

Kaylee Arnold
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Ph.D. 2023, Ecology (Interdisciplinary Disease Ecology Across Scales), University of Georgia
M.S. 2016, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University
B.S. 2013, Biology, University of Redlands
Top 3 favorite plants besides Plantago:
1. Taxodium distichum (bald cypress trees)
2. Attalea butyracea (palm trees)
3. Sequoia sempervirens (California redwoods)
Twitter: @Black_Ecologist
Email: akaylee@wustl.edu
From 2023-2024, Kaylee was an LEC Post-doc co-mentored by Rachel Penczykowski, Danielle Lee, and Solny Adalsteinsson.

PhD Students:

Grace (Coppinger) Sinclair
Pronouns: she/her/hers
B.S. 2024, Biology, University of South Alabama
Top 3 favorite plants besides Plantago:
1. Alabama canebrake pitcher plant (Sarracenia alabamensis)
2. The longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)
3. Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
Email: coppinger@wustl.edu
PhD program: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB)

Noah Clayton
Pronouns: he/him/his
B.S. 2023, Biology, Case Western Reserve University
B.A. 2023, Environmental Studies, Case Western Reserve University
Email: clayton.n@wustl.edu
PhD program: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB)
Co-advised by Jonathan Myers and Rachel Penczykowski

Cheyenne (Anderson) Morris
Pronouns: she/her/hers
B.S. 2018, Biology, Missouri Baptist University
Top 3 favorite plants besides Plantago:
1. Orchidaceae (orchids)
2. Citrus limon (lemon tree)
3. Ficus lyrata (fiddle-leaf fig)
Email: a.cheyenne@wustl.edu
PhD program: Plant and Microbial Biosciences (PMB)

Undergraduate Researchers:

Anisah Dowell, WashU, 2025–Present

Jacqueline Conde Sanluis, WashU, 2024–Present

Elizabeth Grieve, WashU, 2024–Present