Graduate Students
Annabelle Bork
Annabelle Bork is currently funded by Dr.Pinou’s NSF grant. Annabelle joined the lab in fall 2025 and her thesis will focus on characterizing the marine invertebrate (epibiont) communities that attach to sea turtles. She is also gaining workforce training in specimen curation at The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Annabelle graduated from the University of Tampa with a B.S. in Marine Science-Biology. Her previous research experience includes applying molecular and morphological traits to delineate isopod species. Before graduate school she worked at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and the Gulf Shellfish Institute.
Zeanna Graves
Zeanna Graves joined the Pinou lab in June 2025 and is part of the Terrapin Tracking Team. Zeanna graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a B.A. in Environmental Studies focusing on ecology. While in undergrad, she researched the impact of pesticides on tadpoles by examining and monitoring water quality, land use and mouthpart morphology. Zeanna’s thesis work will use iButton technology to examine the thermodynamics of diamondback terrapin nests within Connecticut.
Holden Cooper
Holden Cooper joined the lab in August of 2025, where he will be studying the influence of snake fungal disease on snakes in Connecticut with particular emphasis on Eastern Copperheads. Holden graduated from Penn State Behrend in 2024 with a B.S. In biology. Holden has a particular interest in herpetology. During undergrad, Holden lead two independent projects documenting the trait of Biofluorescence in larval salamanders and snakes respectively.
Undergraduate Students
Lab Technicians
Matthew Naczi
Matthew Naczi is an undergraduate Lab Technician and Researcher. BS Biology, Class of 2027.
Lab Alumni
Molly McMahon ’21
Molly McMahon was a laboratory student under Dr. Pinou while earning her B.A. in Biology, Professional Concentration as a Pre-Vet student. Through working with Dr. Pinou, Molly was able to write and publish a paper analyzing past epibiont data, work with sea turtles in the field, and collect epibionts for future study. Molly graduated from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in 2025 and is now a practicing veterinarian.
John Michael Arnett‘ 24
John Michael studied the effects of road mortality on diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) in Connecticut for his thesis. He analyzed their population structure at multiple sites along a gradient of expected road mortality. John Michael also assisted in conducting coverboard arrays in various habitat types to assess the small vertebrate biodiversity in western Connecticut. He has returned to Texas and now works in consulting.
For more information watch video here!
Andrew Powers‘ 24
My name is Andrew Powers and I have worked on a wide diversity of organisms in many amazing places including bats in Ecuador, sharks in Maine, and rattlesnakes in Texas. I am currently studying the effects of urbanization on copperheads in Connecticut with CTDEEP and QuinnEcological, LLC. Copperheads are a species of conservation concern in the state and my research is helping to better understand these extraordinary snakes at the northeastern limit of their range.
For more information watch video here!
Henry Schwendler‘ 25
Henry Schwendler joined the lab in July 2023 and is part of the Terrapin Tracking Team. Henry graduated from Hiram College in Ohio with a B.A. in Environmental Studies focusing on natural systems. His research interests are ecology and herpetology. While in undergrad, he worked on vernal pool sampling and genetic identification of unisexual ambystomas, a salamander habitat and population survey, and a snake coverboard survey. Henry’s thesis focused on assessing and modeling diamondback terrapin nests within Connecticut. He is now working as an Environmental Scientist at Unicorn Management Consultants (UMC) located in Danbury CT, managing Superfund sites.
Hannah Daly’ 24
Hannah Daly is an undergraduate student at WCSU in the Pinou Lab. The majority of her research lies in marine interspecies relationships, having spent her time in Sarasota, Florida working with Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in their sea turtle tagging team. Hannah is currently finalizing a manuscript summarizing her work on Long Island sound sea turtle diets.
Michael J. Tambascio
“Biology began when I got my new hearing aids a couple of years ago. Before this time, I believed science to be too complex for me to pick up at this stage in my academic career. After I got my new hearing aids, I stepped out on the back porch at my home and listened to the crystal-clear sound of birds chirping. For the first time I was able to differentiate one call from another, and I haven’t looked back since”.
Melina Kohilakis
Melina Kohilakis worked with the Pinou Lab Team from 2021 to 2023 on research projects involving the assessment of microplastics and the measurement of snake hemipenes. Currently, she is pursuing a degree in Global Development and Information Science at Cornell University.
“My name is Melina Kohilakis and I am a senior at Blind Brook High School in Rye Brook, New York. I have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Theodora Pinou for the past two years through a science research program at my high school. During my time in the Pinou lab, I have worked on projects involving assessing microplastics in Long Island Sound and measuring snake hemipenes.”
Anatole Khun
As a Senior at Ridgefield High School (2024), Anatole Khun worked as a summer field intern, helping to estimate terrapin nesting in Connecticut. He is currently a student at Concordia University in Canada. He worked closely with Pinou Lab graduate students and has been working on an open access Biology Atlas for Introductory Biology Students.
Amanda Moline
Amanda Moline is a part-time student and works as a Laboratory Technician in the Pinou Herpetology Lab. She also works full-time at Lesserevil Snack Foods as their R&D and Quality Assurance Specialist. Amanda loves hiking and being outdoors in her free time.
Kimberly F. Durham
Kimberly Durham is the New York State Co-Sea Turtle State Coordinator, and Necropsy Coordinator working at the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society. She is a regional large whale necropsy team leader and Adjunct Lecturer at Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
Here I am conducting a mortality investigation of a minke whale. I also provide treatment for cold stunned endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles at the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society – Sea Turtle rehabilitation facility. Our organization has collaborated with Dr. Pinou for many years. I am interested in studying human behavior and recreational activities impact on sea turtle populations in Long Island Sound.
