Meet the Team

Dr. Olivia Ginn is an Assistant Professor at UGA in CMBE and IOB. She is originally from Atlanta where she completed her undergrad (BSEnvEng 2016) and PhD (EnvEng 2021) at Georgia Tech though describes her research as multidisciplinary through incorporation of engineering, microbiology, and public health to holistically tackle public and environmental health challenges. Olivia’s research spans topics such as aeromicrobiology and implications for human health; bridging the gap between viability and molecular assessments of bioaerosols; and emerging contaminant fate and transport in air, soil and water.

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Aside from research, Olivia is just your average millennial indoor plant hoarder who thinks her pets are her children. Her favorite things are binging science fiction/fantasy novels, experiencing as many parts of the earth as possible, and the spending time with the people she's lucky to call friends and family.  

Nishtha Chauhan is a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering. Hailing from India, Nishtha completed her BS in Life Sciences and MS in Biotechnology before embarking on her doctoral journey. She has been honoured with the 'Graduate School Doctoral Fellowship' at UGA. With a diverse background in various research areas, Nishtha's passion lies in understanding microscopic life forms and their profound impact on human and environmental health. Her current research focuses on Antimicrobial Resistance and the presence of pathogens in air and water, aiming to unravel their implications for both human well-being and environmental sustainability. 
In her free time, Nishtha loves to travel and hang out with her friends and family.

Jillian is a Bioinformatics Ph.D. student who started in the Ginn Lab in January 2024. She is passionate about mentoring, infectious diseases, and anthropology. Her project centers around environmental sampling and zoonotic disease risk assessment. Jillian completed her Biology, B.S. at West Virginia University in Fall 2022 with a concentration in cell and molecular biology and a minor in anthropology. There, under Dr. Timothy Driscoll, her research focused on nutrient acquisition genes in Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiological agent of Lyme disease. In her free time, Jillian enjoys hammocking, playing logic games, and spending time with friends.

Lasya joined the lab as a graduate student in the Bioinformatics Ph.D. program. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Georgia. In addition to her work on eukaryotic pathogens, Lasya is applying bioinformatics to explore the microbiomes of various organisms including rhesus macaques and humans. She is also using bioinformatics to extract signal from large metagenomics datasets sampled from diverse environmental sources. During her graduate studies, Lasya was selected for the George Hugh Boyd Memorial Scholarship for her deep interest in the preservation of mankind and the environment. In her free time, she enjoys taking walks in nature, painting, and participating in her mother's nonprofit dance school.