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John G. Phillips (he/him)
John G. Phillips (he/him)
Principal Investigator - jphill1 [at] midwestern [dot] edu
Principal Investigator - jphill1 [at] midwestern [dot] edu
Ph.D. - University of Tulsa, 2017
B.S. - Central Michigan University, 2012
Dr. Phillips is a genomic naturalist and an Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Sciences Program at Midwestern University in Glendale, AZ. His research interests include many aspects of molecular ecology and genomic evolution. He loves observing his study organisms (mostly herps and land snails, but some fishes) in their native habitats and is immensely fortunate to have conducted research in a variety of theaters from the caves of the Ozarks to the fjords of Iceland, to the famed Galápagos Islands where he searches for elusive land snails. ORCID: 0000-0003-3974-4309
Graduate Researchers
Graduate Researchers
Ali Ashraf
Ali Ashraf
Master's Student 2023–2025
B.A. - Reed College, 2022
M.S. - Valdosta State University, 2025
Ali Ashraf was a Master's student in the Phillips Lab. He completed a thesis studying phylogeography in the banded water snake (Nerodia fasciata). This research explored how the evolution of these snakes was affected by historic changes in geography that result from climate and glaciation patterns.
Originally from Fremont, California in the southeast San Francisco Bay Area, he earned his undergraduate degree in Portland, Oregon at Reed College where he wrote a senior thesis studying asexual reproduction in Columbian monkshood (Aconitum columbianum). When not on campus he spends his time with the VSU amateur radio club tinkering with radios and practicing morse code, designing rockets in Kerbal Space Program, and posting pictures of the local wildlife to iNaturalist.
Alysa Smith
Alysa Smith
Master's Student 2024–2025
Undergrad Researcher 2022–2023
B.S. - Valdosta State University, 2023
M.S. - Valdosta State University, 2025
Originally an undergraduate research on the Anuran Acoustics team, Alysa earned her master's while working in the Phillips Lab en route to attending Vet School.
Alysa's research interests include population and ecosystem health and she plans on studying population dynamics and demography of freshwater turtles in her Master's work.
Molly Little
Molly Little
4+1 Master's Student 2024–2025
Undergrad Researcher 2023–2024
B.S. - Valdosta State University, 2025
Starting as an undergrad volunteer analyzing frog calls as part of our Anuran Acoustics project, Molly recently joined VSU's accelerated Masters program.
Molly worked on a mark-recapture study of yellow-bellied sliders at Moody AFB to test impacts of habitat quality on demographics and population genetics.
Undergraduate Researchers
Undergraduate Researchers
Mia Price
Mia Price
Undergrad Researcher 2022–2025
B.S. 2025?
Mia has been volunteering in the Phillips lab since fall of 2022. She plans on attending vet school, but in the meantime she conducted and presented a project on introduced lizards to the Hawaiian Islands! Mia is interested in animal ecology and behavior.
Clayton Gall
Clayton Gall
Undergrad Researcher 2023–2025
B.S. 20??
Clay is interested in ecology and biogeography. He conducted coverboard experiments to survey and study fossorial herpetofauna in south Georgia, especially the (very) Slimy Salamander Plethodon grobmani.
Stella Phillips-Arteaga
Stella Phillips-Arteaga
Undergrad Researcher 2024–present
K.9. 2024
Stella is the most active member of the Phillips lab. Her research interests include keenly observing escape behavior in introduced anole and house gecko populations as well as mammalian fecal analysis.
Prospective Researcher(s)
Prospective Researcher(s)
Lots of space for lots of you here!!!
*Caution is always encouraged if one is to pick up a snapping turtle...
If you are interested in joining the lab or learning about our work, email Dr. Phillips or stop by his office (Science Hall 370-B)! (or lab, Foothills 131)
Lab Alumni
Lab Alumni
Jewell Johnson
Jewell Johnson
Undergrad Researcher 2022–2024
B.A. - Valdosta State University, 2024
Jewell has been working as part of the Anuran Acoustics team since 2022, having conducted several independent projects including her oral presentation Testing the Acoustic Adaptation Hypothesis: Anuran Signal Transmission at Different Heights during the 2024 VSU Undergraduate Research Symposium
Her interests center on wetland ecology, which she will be pursuing through the NSF Woods2Water Program through the University of Alabama and Jones Center at Ichauway.
Lab Alumni
Lab Alumni
Hope Smith VSU 2024 – BIOL4950: Acoustic behavior in Georgia frogs
Maya Stevens VSU 2023 – Morphological evolution in Andean land snails
Presenter: 2023 Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference
Lauren Vosburgh VSU 2023 – Evolutionary patterns and virulence of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus. Presenter: 2023 VSU Undergraduate Research Symposium
Emily Scarborough VSU 2023 – Effects of anthropogenic noise on spring peepers' songs. Presenter: 2023 VSU Undergraduate Research Symposium
Winston Turner VSU 2022 – Acoustic behavior in Georgia frogs
Presenter: 2023 VSU Undergraduate Research Symposium
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