SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

During my undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley, I studied Integrative Biology, and focused on evolutionary processes. Below are selection of research topics I worked on while completing my undergraduate degree.

FINDING FOOD IN THE MICROSCOPIC WORLD

Choanoflagellate Feeding Behavior In Locating Marine Snow 

Evolutionary Biomechanics

Koehl Lab, UC Berkeley, Fall 2016- Spring 2017

Some morphs during the lifecycle of the choanoflagellate species S. Rosetta have been observed to follow pH gradients in laboratory experiments. This work was a continuation of those experiments. During the 2016-2017 academic year, I assisted Dr. Mimi Koehl by designing lab experiments to test whether these particular morphs of S. Rosetta would seek out biofilms grown from local seawater. The study is still underway. 

ALGAE THAT MAKES ROCK

Microbial Precipitation Of Calcium Carbonate

Microbial Biophysics, Sedimentology, SEM imaging

 Mississippi State University, Summer 2014

Over the summer of 2014, I assisted Dr. Kirkland with a continuing study of microbial precipitation of calcium carbonate by bacteria in seawater.

ORDOVICIAN MASS EXTINCTION RESEARCH

Micropaleontology, extinction dynamics

Finnegan Lab, UC Berkeley, 2015-2016

The Ordovician Mass Extinction Event is a crucial area of study for today’s world, because it may be the mass extinction in Earth’s history that is most similar to the one we are experiencing now. During this period, climatic upheaval caused the extinction of nearly 90% of all species on the planet. The extinction event lasted for a long time, and some species were more affected than others. This research was conducted on rock samples from Anticosti Island in Canada to better understand the species extinction dynamics through the late Ordovician era.