Keyle Bryant (left) presents her research at the 2025 Spring Research and Arts Conference. Sebastian Jimenez (right) conducts research in Dr. Francesca Leasi’s lab. Photos by Angela Foster.
As valedictorian of Ridgeland High School in Flintstone, Georgia, Sebastian Jimenez had options when it came to his college career.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was an easy pick.
“A big draw was the honors program,” said Jimenez, now a senior Brock Scholar in the UTC Honors College majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry. “I really came in with the vaguest ideas of what I wanted to do. I do really enjoy learning about biology, and the goal has always been grad school.”
Keyle Bryant, on the other hand, applied to a list of other universities. After several acceptance letters, a visit to UTC confirmed her plans. It was the perfect distance from Nashville, her hometown, and overall “really cool.”
“I got really lucky with finding out about the honors program and last-minute applying,” said Bryant, a senior environmental science major and also a Brock Scholar. “That has opened up so many opportunities for me.”
Jimenez and Bryant met under similar circumstances—looking for research opportunities for their honors theses. Dr. Francesca Leasi, a UC Foundation associate professor in the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science, became that opportunity.
Leasi’s research focuses on biodiversity, specifically microscopic animals called meiofauna that live in soil and water. You can’t see them with the naked eye, but they play an important role in keeping ecosystems functioning.
In the lab, she uses fieldwork and molecular tools, such as environmental DNA (eDNA), to identify which species are present in an environment. She then analyzes the genetic traces left behind in water or sediment samples to build a picture of biodiversity without seeing the organisms themselves.
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Click here to read more about Leasi’s research, including the discovery of Musellifer leasiae, a deep-sea species named in her honor.
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Both Jimenez and Bryant first connected with Leasi through the Honors College fellowship program, which pairs students with faculty research projects. For Bryant, it started her freshman year, when she signed up for a paid fellowship collecting water samples around Chattanooga.
“I can earn a little money. I can get some research done,” Bryant recalled thinking at the time. “Little did I know what it was going to lead to.”
When Bryant began searching for a thesis advisor her junior year, she circled back to Leasi.
“I was like, ‘Did that project ever get finished?’” Bryant recalled. “And she said, ‘I haven’t had time to get to it. If you would like to do it, that would be amazing.’”
Bryant, who has minors in both biology and Geographic Information Science (GIS), added to the project by incorporating GIS, something Leasi had hoped to include but hadn’t yet implemented in the lab.
Using satellite imagery and mapping software, Bryant quantified how urbanized each water site was, measuring surrounding land use and comparing it to the biodiversity data pulled from eDNA samples.
Instead of just labeling a pond as “urban” or “rural,” Bryant used data to translate those differences.
“How do we quantify this in a way where it has some numbers to it?” she said. “GIS makes that possible.”
Jimenez’s path in this research began in the same spirit.
As a freshman, he worked in the lab alongside former faculty member Dr. Fernando Alda. When Alda left UTC, Jimenez stayed in the shared lab space and continued working under Leasi’s mentorship. By the time he began planning his honors thesis, he was ready to take on a project of his own.
“My impression was that she was integrating different methods, including quantitative methods and computational biology,” Jimenez said. “I really wanted to do something that includes an integration of different approaches.”
His project looks at how communities of microscopic aquatic organisms respond to changes in salinity. Jimenez collected samples in Miami along streams with varying salt levels and processed the results in the lab. He then analyzed the results to see how species composition shifts across that gradient.
This kind of research, Leasi explained, involves complex lab techniques and statistical analysis. Jimenez wanted to see it through from start to finish.
“Fieldwork, lab work, data analysis and statistical analysis,” Leasi said. “Of course we help each other, but he’s doing everything independently.”
Earning that independence, Jimenez said, is a valuable part of the research experience.
“I came to college very timid,” he said. “Working on this project has been a really big means of growth—dedicating myself, figuring out time management and communicating. I’ve gained a lot of good experience just working with other people.”
Bryant felt that growth, too. As she worked through her thesis, she began to realize how much her contribution had expanded beyond the original project by introducing GIS.
“It feels like such a small piece when you look at everything that’s been done,” Bryant said, “but I’m hoping it’s something that carries on in the lab even after I’m gone.
“There are so many more options and details you can put onto it and give you data that’s so helpful to progress. I’m hoping that over time that’s something that stays within the lab and can continue to grow.”
As graduation approaches, both students are preparing for what comes next.
Jimenez plans to remain in Leasi’s lab for several months after graduation to assist with additional fieldwork and help prepare his thesis research for publication.
After that, he hopes to enter the biotech or chemical industry before graduate school.
Bryant has been accepted into multiple graduate programs and is currently weighing offers for master’s degrees in sustainability and sustainable organizations. She hopes to continue exploring the intersection of environmental science and human systems.
For Leasi, watching students accomplish their research goals is one of the most rewarding parts of working in the lab at UTC.
“Training the next generation of scientists is something that is a part of my job, but also part of my vocation for doing this job,” Leasi said. “Even though it doesn’t really matter whether students stay in my research field or not, the idea that students—because of that experience—pursue research in the future, is very satisfying.
“Sebastian and Keyle have been among my best students working in my lab. They are curious, inquisitive and hard workers.”
Dr. Francesca Leasi
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UTC Biology, Geology and Environmental Science
In the world of micro life, Francesca Leasi’s name looms large
