Hello! I am an Entomology Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). I am interested in combining imaging techniques, such as micro-computed tomography (µCT), image stacking, and high-speed videography, with kinematic approaches to study trait evolution. I am studying the evolution and functional morphology of spider chelicerae, specifically how interplay between form and function influences the utility and versatility of these structures.
During my undergraduate career at the University of California, Davis (UCD), I studied how invasive plants affect the elemental profile of salt marsh plants, investigated how episodic warming and grazing affect eelgrass phenotypic diversity (Bodega Marine Laboratory Internship Program), visualized genitalic development and functional morphology of the male flat-backed millipede Pseudopolydesmus through three-dimensional reconstructions, taught scientific illustration at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, and illustrated several editions of the UCD Introductory Biology (BIS 2C) course laboratory manuals. In my personal time, I keep a variety of terrestrial arthropods and create mixed-media art work, typically involving watercolor, gouache, clay, and/or resin. |