{"id":10,"date":"2017-04-07T15:42:51","date_gmt":"2017-04-07T15:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/?page_id=10"},"modified":"2026-04-30T14:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:56:20","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Current Students<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Graduate Students<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tyrik Cooper <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tyrik-cooper\/\">LinkedIn<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tyrik Cooper, a Savannah, GA native, is a Ph.D. student in Forestry and Environmental Resources at NC State University, where his research focuses on intercropping industrial hemp within loblolly pine plantations. He earned his B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Shorter University, where he also pitched for the baseball team. Before graduate school, Tyrik aspired to be a veterinarian and worked as a veterinary technician for two years before shifting his focus to environmental research. He later completed his M.S. in Forestry and Environmental Resources at NC State in 2021. Outside of research, Tyrik enjoys sports, riding motorcycles, skateboarding, fishing, hiking, gardening, and puzzles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"584\" height=\"584\" src=\"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/10\/Tyriks-Headshot-2-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-368\" srcset=\"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/10\/Tyriks-Headshot-2-edited.jpg 584w, https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/10\/Tyriks-Headshot-2-edited-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/10\/Tyriks-Headshot-2-edited-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Kendall Brown<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Michelle Hooke<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Undergraduate Students<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Sydney Clemons<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rohin Roy<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Former Students<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Graduate students:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Thomas Barnes<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tcbarnes2\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Austin Cary<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/austinca\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>David Dick<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-dick-493841b6\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Asija Rice<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/asija-r-305b52173\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tim Shively<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tim-shively-69a27098\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Summer Lauder<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/summer-lauder\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Darius Ledbetter<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/darius-ledbetter\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ilene Doyle<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ilene-doyle-4a4665314\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Papa Gueye<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/papa-gueye-654410196\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lauren Lintz<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lauren-lintz-duggan-2660a7113\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kelsey Bakken<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kelsey-bakken-b27506b1\/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_campaign=share_via&amp;utm_content=profile&amp;utm_medium=ios_app\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Marley Smith<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/marley-smith-b38b86186\/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_campaign=share_via&amp;utm_content=profile&amp;utm_medium=ios_app\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lauren Lintz<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lauren-lintz-duggan-2660a7113\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kayla Stukes<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kayla-a-stukes-bb96bbb4\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ryan Heiderman<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sam Ford<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Undergraduate Students:&nbsp;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Kenedi Jubert<\/strong>, NC A&amp;T<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hana Robinson<\/strong>, NCSU <a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/hana-robinson-713502217\">LinkedIn<\/a> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Logan O\u2019Neal<\/strong>, NCSU <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/logan-o%E2%80%99neal-7a934a256\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Andrea Casallas<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/andrea-casallas-818424278\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dominic James<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/dominic-james-8749202bb\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lauren Srisaguan<\/strong>, NCSU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kimberly Parris<\/strong>, NCSU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jonathan Floyd<\/strong>, UNCG, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sjfprofile\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Minna Eltinay<\/strong>, NCSU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shelby Williford<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/shelby-williford\/\">LinkedIn<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nicholas Monaco<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nicholas-monaco-052110294\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Amaya Horner<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/amayahorner\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Noah Sacks<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/noah-sacks-858b12185\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Alison Plumley<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/alison-plumley-088546101\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jacob Burris<\/strong>, NCSU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jaren Baluyot<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jarenbaluyot\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Westley Foxx<\/strong>, NC A&amp;T<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Joshua Carter<\/strong>, NCSU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Noel Griffin<\/strong>, NCSU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ashlee George<\/strong>, NCSU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>James Holmes<\/strong> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Connor Saunders<\/strong> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dorian Gothard<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Willie Adams<\/strong>, NCSU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Adrian Chamberlin<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/adrian-chamberlin-67aa8314b\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dave Axline<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/dave-axline-746635180\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Janai Minga<\/strong>, Texas Southern University, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/janaidminga\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sophie Uthe<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sophiauthe\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Colleen Smith<\/strong>, Humboldt State University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Austin Cary<\/strong>, Tuskegee University &amp; NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/austinca\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nadia Bowles<\/strong>, Tuskegee University, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nadiabowles\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kedel Sulimani<\/strong>, Tuskegee University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Janell Neal<\/strong>, East Carolina University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maddie Adams<\/strong>, NCSU, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/maddieadams1017\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rosemary Edberg<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rosemaryedberg\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Current Students Graduate Students Undergraduate Students Former Students Graduate students: Undergraduate Students:&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":393,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions\/393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.cnr.ncsu.edu\/zakiyaleggett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}