Ana Elisa Garcia-Vedrenne

Assistant Professor of Teaching, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences

Biology education research, equity and diversity in science, parasite ecology, environmental DNA

IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellow at UC, Los Angeles

My education research centers on how to improve STEM education by incorporating authentic research practices into the teaching and learning of undergraduate biology. I focus on strategies that increase student engagement, metacognition, scientific comprehension and development of team competencies. My secondary area of interest is parasite ecology and using parasites to enhance general ecological, evolutionary, and behavioral science and education.

Distinguished Early-Career Faculty Award for Teaching (2026)
Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching (2026)
Excellence in Pedagogical Development Award (2025)
Dr. De Gallow Professor of the Year, Honorable mention (2024)
Excellence in Digital Learning, Honorable mention (2024)

Garza, D.R., Di Blasi, D.L., Klyczek, K.K., Brun, J.A., DeJong, R.J., Findley, A.M., Jacobs – Sera, D., Garcia-Vedrenne, A.E., Molloy, S., Lewis, C.M., Light, I., Empson, B., Ghannam, M., Bonilla, A., Cresawn, S.G., Garlena, R.A., Russell, D.A., Hatfull, G.F., Freise, A.C. 2026. Characterization of genomic diversity in bacteriophages infecting Rhodococcus. PLoS One 21(6): e0352686 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0352686

Garcia-Vedrenne, A.E., Fiorenza, E.A., and Garcia, K.H., 2026. Implementing an alternative grading approach in an upper division parasitology course. The Journal of Parasitology, 112(2), 216-22. doi:10.1645/25-13

Garcia-Vedrenne, A.E.†, Weinstein, S.B.†, McCauley, D.J., and Emery, N., 2026. Scientific Mini-Chats: Connecting students to scientists in the classroom. The Journal of Parasitology, 112(2), 189-197. doi:10.1645/25-10

Flores, M. A., Thompson, J. C., Lechner, P. G., Abiad, A., Richter, B. S., Padilla, M. S. T. L., Svozil, C., Man, Y., Li, Y., Burns, A., Bietz, M., Garcia-Vedrenne, A.E., Link, R., and Edwards, K., 2025. TokenATM Enables Automation of Token Economy for Large-Enrollment Courses. Journal of Chemical Education. 102 (12), 5363-5372. doi:acs.jchemed.5c00298

García, K.H., Bower, A.H. and García-Vedrenne, A.E., 2025. Mentoring the mentors: a scalable professional development model for graduate teaching assistants and undergraduate learning assistants in large-enrollment CUREs. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, pp.e00040-25. doi:10.1128/jmbe.00040-25

Orland, C., Ballare, K.M., Garcia-Vedrenne, A.E., Mejia, M.P., Wayne, R.K. and Shapiro, B., 2023. Debating Conservation: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Introductory Biology Classes. CourseSource. 10. doi:10.24918/cs.2023.1

Drábková M, Kocot KM, Halanych KM, Oakley TH, … Garcia-Vedrenne AE, et al. (2022) Different phylogenomic methods support monophyly of enigmatic ‘Mesozoa’ (Dicyemida + Orthonectida, Lophotrochozoa). Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 289: 20220683

Lin M, Simons A, Curd E, Harrigan R, … Garcia-Vedrenne AE, et al. (2021) Landscape analyses using eDNA metabarcoding and Earth observation predict community biodiversity in California. Ecological Applications, e2379.

Meyer, R., Munguia Ramos, M., Lin, M., Schweizer, T., … Garcia-Vedrenne AE, et al. (2021) The CALeDNA program: Citizen scientists and researchers inventory California's biodiversity. California Agriculture, 75(1), 20-32.

Garcia-Vedrenne AE, Orland C, Ballare KM, Shapiro B, Wayne RK (2020) Ten strategies for a successful transition to remote learning: lessons learned with a flipped course. Ecology and Evolution

Lafferty KD, Garcia-Vedrenne AE, McLaughlin JP, Childress JN, Morse MF, Jerde CL (2020) At Palmyra Atoll, the fish-community environmental DNA signal changes across habitats but not with tides. Journal of Fish Biology

Wood CL, Sokolow S, Jones I, Chamberlin A, … Garcia-Vedrenne AE, et al. (2019) Schistosomiasis transmission sites can be more effectively located by mapping snail habitat than by searching for snails. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(46), 23182-23191

Steinauer ML, Garcia-Vedrenne AE, Weinstein SB, Kuris AM. (2019) Acanthocephalan parasites of the oarfish, Regalecus russelii (Regalecidae), with a description of a new species of Gymnorhadinorhynchus (Acanthocephala: Gymnorhadinorhynchidae). Journal of Parasitology, 105(1), 124-132

Garcia-Vedrenne AE, Quintana ACE, DeRogatis A, Dover C, Lopez M, et al. (2017) Trematodes with a reproductive division of labour: heterophyids also have a soldier caste and early infections reveal how colonies become structured. International Journal for Parasitology, 47: 41-50

Garcia-Vedrenne AE, Quintana ACE, DeRogatis A, Martyn K, Kuris AM, et al. (2016) Social organization in parasitic flatworms- four additional echinostome trematodes have a soldier caste and one does not. Journal of Parasitology 102: 11-20 (Featured on TWiP podcast http://www.microbe.tv/twip/twip-106/)

Guo H, Garcia-Vedrenne AE, Isserlin R, Lugowski A, Morada A, et al. (2015) Phosphoproteomic network analysis in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus reveals new candidates in egg activation. Proteomics. 15: 4080-4095. (Highlighted with commentary by Wessel, G. M. 2015. Proteomics, 15: 3925-3927)

Kuris AM, Jaramillo AG, McLaughlin JP, Weinstein SB, Garcia-Vedrenne AE, et al. (2015) Monsters of the sea serpent: Parasites of an oarfish Regalecus russellii. Journal of Parasitology 10: 41-44

Garcia-Vedrenne AE, Groner M, Page-Karjian A, Siegmund G-F, Singhal S, et al. (2013) Development of genomic resources for a thraustochytrid pathogen and investigation of temperature influences on gene expression. PLoS ONE 8: e74196

Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=7089

Last updated
08/10/2026