People
Amy Kinsley, DVM, PhD
Principal Investigator
Amy Kinsley, DVM, PhD, is an assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Before becoming faculty, Dr. Kinsley spent a year as a Research Associate for the Center for Animal Health and Food Safety, working to mitigate infectious diseases in marine aquaculture. She completed her DVM and PhD at the University of Minnesota, supported by the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD) Career Development Fellowship (2014-2018). Prior to her veterinary education, she completed a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida and worked on land development projects off the coast of Florida.
Sydney Johnson
DVM/MPH Student, Student Researcher
Sydney is part of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Class of 2024, pursuing a dual-degree DVM/MPH with a minor in Science, Technology, and Engineering Policy. With these degrees and knowledge, her goal is to work in a realm focusing on solving complex issues, ideally within a marine ecosystem setting, using holistic community health, public health, and ecosystem health tools to identify and solve problems by working with community leaders and policymakers. She is especially interested in shark and marine mammal conservation and the spillover of human and animal health in these systems. She is relatively new to the research world and hopes to gain tools in modeling techniques and OneHealth project and team management skills and methods.
She currently serves in leadership positions at the national level with Veterinarians as One Inclusive Community for Empowerment as the national board secretary and with Student PrideVMC as the national chapter coordinator. She also serves as the president-elect for the Zoo, Exotic, Avian, and Wildlife Society at Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and is a member of the University of Minnesota’s inter-professional Global Health Student Advisory Board. She works for the Kinsley-Travis Lab(s) as a student research assistant and is currently building her own project focusing on conservation medicine research and ecosystem health.
Whitney Smith
DVM/MPH Student and DVM Summer Scholar Student (2022, 2023)
Whitney Smith is a DVM/MPH student in the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Class of 2025. She has a BS in Animal Science with a minor in Marine Biology from the University of Connecticut and an MS in Conservation Medicine from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Ultimately, she hopes to work with wildlife using a One Health approach and is specifically interested in sea turtles, marine conservation, and zoonotic diseases. Whitney is excited to gain research experience and learn more about systems-based approaches in aquatic ecosystem health.
Molly Tilsen
Masters Student, Graduate Research Assistant
Molly is a Master's student in Water Resources Science and a MAISRC Graduate Fellow at the University of Minnesota. With a multidisciplinary background in ecology, evolution, behavior, and water resources, she addresses anthropogenic impacts on aquatic ecology. Molly combines her organizational skills with scientific training to develop innovative solutions for mitigating human-induced harm to water resources.
As a graduate student, Molly actively contributes to cutting-edge research initiatives aimed at tackling the pressing challenges of aquatic invasive species. She embraces the opportunity to bridge the gap between science and society by effectively communicating scientific findings in accessible and engaging ways. Molly's dedication to creating meaningful connections between researchers, policymakers, and the general public enables her to empower individuals and communities to make informed decisions and take active steps toward safeguarding our precious aquatic ecosystems.
Galia Modabbernia, DVM
PhD Student, Visiting Scholar
Galia obtained her DVM degree from the University of Tehran and is currently a PhD candidate in Parasitology. Her research focuses on the dynamics of parasitic diseases, explicitly exploring how climate change influences disease distribution patterns. She is also passionate about developing models for disease control and prediction, aiming to make valuable contributions towards improved public health outcomes.
Lab Alumni
Alex Bajcz
Alex Bajcz, PhD is currently a Quantitative Ecologist with the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Resarch Center (MAISRC).
Aidan Neher
PhD Student
Aidan Neher is a PhD student in the Bistatistics program in School of Public Health.