CURRENT POSITION2018- Postdoctoral Researcher
present California Institute of Technology Mentor: Dr. Joseph Parker PREVIOUS POSITION 2016- Postdoctoral Researcher 2018 Pennsylvania State University Mentor: Dr. Iliana B. Baums EDUCATION2016 Ph.D. Zoology
Oregon State University Advisor: Dr. Virginia M. Weis 2010 M.S. Marine Biology University of North Carolina at Wilmington Advisor: Dr. Alison R. Taylor 2007 B.S. Marine Biology with Honors University of North Carolina at Wilmington Advisor (Honors): Dr. Richard A. Satterlie |
ABOUT ME
I am broadly interested in understanding cellular, molecular and evolutionary processes involved in the interactions between organisms and their environment.
My current work in the Parker Lab investigates the evolution of the defensive gland in rove beetles that is the hypothesized to be the pre-adaptation for symbiotic lifestyle in this group. I am also looking for patterns of convergence of the ant-loving (myrmecophiles) rove beetles in their genomes. Through this project, I assembled a chromosome-level genome of the emerging model system, Dalotia coriaria. |
My postdoctoral research in the Baums Lab explored coral hybridization as an adaptive mechanism to global climate change. Specifically, I investigated the reproductive barriers between two species and breaches of those barriers using genomic data. My project involved genomic sequencing, population structure and admixture analyses to characterize the hybridization of Caribbean acroporids.
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My Ph. D. research in the Weis lab at Oregon State University centered on investigating changes in cell signaling processes of cnidarians during symbiont uptake and loss. The communication between the cnidarian host and its endosymbiotic algae is still poorly understood. My projects aimed to link symbiosis onset and breakdown, both cellular processes orchestrated by the partner communication, to changes in the host transcription, signaling and physiology. Furthermore, I investigated the potential role of signaling lipids as cell fate determinants and mediators of mutualistic host-microbe interactions.
In 2010, I received my Master’s degree from the University of North Carolina Wilmington under the direction of Dr. Alison Taylor. My thesis project explored the role of brevetoxins as an allelopathic mechanism between the prolific harmful algae species, Karenia brevis and other non-toxic phytoplankton. I completed my B.S. in Marine Biology with Honors from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2007, where I studied the innervation of dorsoventral muscles in the pteropod mollusc, Clione limacina, in regulating wing stiffness during swim acceleration. |
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