Sean T. Bresnahan

PhD Candidate

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Education

  • Ph.D. (in progress) - Penn State University, Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences program.
    Committee members: Christina Grozinger, Michael Axtell, Shaun Mahony, Heather Hines, Amro Zayed (YorkU).
  • B.Sc. (2019) - University of Nebraska at Omaha, Neuroscience program, Department of Biology.

Technical

Bioinformatics

  • Languages: R, python, bash
  • Reproducibility: RMarkdown, Github
  • Tools for working with NGS and sequence data: BWA, GATK, bowtie, tophat, STAR, ShortStack, freebayes, samtools, bamtools, bedtools, bcftools, vcftools, sra-tools, fastp, seqtk, BLAST command line tools
  • Transcriptome analysis: DESeq2, WGCNA
  • Statistics and machine learning: ANOVA, LMs, GLMs, SVMs, hierarchical clustering, k-means clustering

Molecular biology

  • Nucleic acid extraction and QC (nanodrop, qubit, bioanalyzer, tapestation)
  • PCR, qPCR, allele-specific qPCR
  • ChIP
  • NGS library preparations: sRNA-seq (splint-adapter ligation, in-house), mRNA-seq (Illumina), ChIP-seq (in-house)
  • NGS platforms: Illumina NextSeq 2000
  • Molecular cloning & subcloning
  • RNAi & CRISPR

Animal husbandry

  • Zebrafish (Danio rerio), breeding and rearing - 2017-2019
  • Honey bees (Apis mellifera), queen rearing, instrumental insemination, general colony management - 2019-present

Publications

Bresnahan, S. T., Döke, M., A., Giray, T., and Grozinger, C. M. (2021). “Tissue-specific transcriptional patterns underlie seasonal phenotypes in honey bees (Apis mellifera)”. Molecular Ecology, 31, 174-184. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16220

Bresnahan, S. T., Lee, E., Clark, L., Ma, R., Rangel, J., Grozinger, C. M., Li-Byarlay, H. (2023). “Examining parent-of-origin effects on transcription and RNA methylation in mediating aggressive behavior in honey bees (Apis mellifera)”. in review. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2621698/v1

Crone, M., Boyle, N., Bresnahan, S. T., Biddinger, D., Grozinger, C. M. (2023). “More than mesolectic: Are Osmia cornifrons nutritional generalists or specialists?” in review.

See my publications on Google Scholar.

Talks & posters

  • November 2022: (international invited talk) Inspirational Advances in Social Insect Evolution using ‘Omic’ Approaches - “Intragenomic Conflict and its Epigenetic Basis in Honey Bees”. Entomological Society of American/Canada/British Colombia, Vancouver, BC.
  • July 2022: (invited talk) My Parents Made Me Do It (Epigenetic Inheritance in Social Insects) - “Intragenomic Conflict and its Epigenetic Basis in Honey Bees”. International Union for the Study of Social Insects, San Diego, CA.
  • January 2022: (invited talk) Workshop on Honey Bee Genomics - “Evaluating piRNAs as a Mechanism of Intragenomic Conflict in Honey Bees”. Plant and Animal Genomics, San Diego, CA.
  • May 2021: (invited talk) The Center for Pollinator Research Symposium - “Tissue-Specific Transcriptional Patterns Underlie Seasonal Phenotypes in Honey Bees”. Penn State University, State College, PA.
  • January 2021: Biology and Genomics of Social Insects - “Evaluating Intragenomic Conflict in Altruistic, Pheromone-Mediated Honey Bee Behaviors”. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (virtual).
  • January 2020: Regulatory and Non-Coding RNAs - “Evaluating the Role of PIWI/piRNAs in Intragenomic Conflict in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)”. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (virtual).
  • May 2019: University of Nebraska Research and Creative Activity Fair - “A Large Scale Dynamical Model of Macrophage-HIV Interactions” & “Investigating COMT Influence on the Proactive-Reactive Stress Coping Axis in Zebrafish”. University of Nebraska at Omaha, NE.
  • May 2017: University of Nebraska Research and Creative Activity Fair - “Utilizing the CRISPR/Cas9 System in Zebrafish”. University of Nebraska at Omaha, NE.

Fellowships

  • 2019-present: Graduate Research Fellowship Program - National Science Foundation
  • 2019-present: Integrative Pollinator Ecology Training Program - The Center for Pollinator Research, Penn State University
  • 2019: University Graduate Fellow - Penn State University

Teaching & mentoring

  • 2022-present: Undergraduate research mentor (R, molecular biology, and honey bee husbandry)
  • 2021 (Fall): TA for ENT 222, Honey Bees and Humans (general ed course for undergraduates). Instructors: Christina Grozinger, Harland Patch

Outreach

  • 2022: The Arboretum at Penn State. Led exhibit on honey bee behavior at the Pollinator and Bird Garden dedication.
  • 2021: East Richmond Beekeepers Association. Gave talk entitled “Cooperation and Conflict: Genetic Building Blocks of Sociality”.
  • 2019: The Great Insect Fair at Penn State. Assisted in exhibit on educational game “Pollinator Panic”.
  • 2017: NeuroWOW - The University of Nebraska at Omaha. Assisted in educational exhibits and activities related to neuroscience and behavior for K-6 grade students

Collaborations

  • Ongoing research collaboration with labs at Central State University and Texas A&M University.
  • Ongoing international research collaboration with lab at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Manuscript reviews

  • Genome Biology & Evolution
  • Molecular Ecology