Khyana is a recent graduate (BS, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) conducting an independent research project in the summer of 2022. She is using DNA metabarcoding to characterize the diversity of gastrointestinal endoparasites in local Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis). As part of graduate student Ann Holmes's research team since 2019, she collected guano samples over two seasons using non-invasive methods from three roosts in the Davis region: the I-80 causeway in the Yolo Basin Wildlife Area (the largest bat roost in California) and two bridges in the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve on UC Davis campus. She extracted DNA and prepared Illumina high-throughput sequencing libraries using three genetic barcodes (COI, 18S, and 16S) in the Genomic Variation Lab eDNA facility. Samples are being sequenced at the UC Davis Genome center, and she will use the DADA2 and phyloseq bioinformatic programs in R to identify parasite taxa and conduct further analysis.

Her research is funded by a grant from the North American Society for Bat Research and a UC Davis Provost's Fellowship. Funding from the Yolo Basin Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship to Ann Holmes also made this work possible. 

Khyana's skill extend far beyond science research: she plays seven instruments.