Current Lab Members
17
18
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Dr. Lena Hileman, PI
Lena received her Ph.D. in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University. After completing her Ph.D.,she spent three years in Dr. Vivian Irish's lab at Yale University as a postdoctoral researcher before starting up her own lab in 2005 at the University of Kansas. She is a proud alum (both Bachelor's and Master's degrees) of San Francisco State University!
​Dr. Hileman's CV (PDF) (last updated September 2025)
Email Dr. Hileman at: lhileman@ku.edu
Dr. Samson Acoca Pidolle, postdoctoral researcher
Samson received his PhD degree from the University of Montpellier (France). Since February 2025, he works as a postdoc in the Hileman Lab, with a secondment in Kelly's Lab, on genes involved in evolution from bee to hummingbird pollination in Penstemon virgatus and Penstemon barbatus.
Email: Samson at samson.acoca-pidolle@ku.edu
Haylee Coffman, Ph.D. student
Haylee received her Bachelor's degree from Park University. She also studied at the University of Hawaii (very cool!). Haylee is studying the genetic basis for differences in floral pigment intensity and flower shape between bee and hummingbird-adapted ​Penstemon species.
Email Haylee at: hjcoffman@ku.edu
Theo Scheiner, masters student
Theo received a Bachelor's degree in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology from SUNY College at Old Westbury before joining the Hileman lab. In the Hileman lab, Theo is studying nectary evolution and development in Penstemon and close relatives.
Email Theo: stscheiner@ku.edu
Jim Krentzel, undergraduate student
Jim is majoring in Biochemistry and KU. His work in the Hileman lab is focused on using transgenics to study flower symmetry in Mimulus lewisii and on developing transgenic tools for Penstemon.
Gracie Friedrichs, undergraduate student
Gracie is working towards a degree in Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology at KU. In the Hileman lab, she is testing for a 2-locus Dobzhanski-Muller incompatibility between two Penstemon species, focusing on pollen viability.
Cynne' Baron, undergraduate student
Cynne' is working towards a degree in Biochemistry at KU. In the Hileman lab, she is working on a microscopy project that will help us explore the relationship between nectary area and nectar production in Penstemon.
Liz Mays, undergraduate student
Liz is working towards a degree in Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology at KU. In the Hileman lab, she is contributing to our understanding of Penstemon flower color evolution in two ways. First by undertaking anthocyanin extractions and chromatography analysis for flowers in an F2 mapping population, and second by exploring the role of an anthocyanin pathway gene in a key Penstemon species.
