Congratulations to the Class of 2025 Ecology & Evolution Concentrators, who conducted original research and submitted their undergraduate theses this year. Students presented their research in a round of lightning talks on wide-ranging topics, from the soil microbiome, visual mating preference in Heliconius butterflies, interaction between kelp and phytoplankton for nitrogen, to the diet of a dinosaur and the evolutionary morphometrics in angelfishes.
See below for a full picture of the diverse research topics of our talented students. Congratulations and happy graduation!
JoJo Wang, advisor Seppe Kuehn: Connecting traits to community metabolism in the soil microbiome across a pH range
Charlotte Wallsten, advisor Marcus Kronforst: Investigating the Roles of Genetic Variation, Eye Filter Pigments, and Opsin Expression on Color Vision and Visual Mate Preference in Heliconius Butterflies
Nicole Martinez, advisor Cathy Pfister: Determining the Interaction Between Kelp and Phytoplankton for Nitrogen in Washington State
Luke Friedman, advisor Neil Shubin: Phenotypic plasticity in Polypterus senegalus: Analysis of Pectoral Fin Bone Density and Flexural Stiffness of Fish Reared in Water Versus on Land
Audrey Goodlick, advisor Paul Sereno: Determining the Diet of Kaprosuchus saharicus
Zane Gillan, advisor John Bates: Midden Construction and Microhabitat Preferences of Neotoma albigula in the Sonoran Desert
Netta Nevo, advisor Greg Dwyer: The effect of host diet on the virulence of baculovirus morphotypes in Douglas-Fir Tussock moths
Hannah Aguinis, advisor Mark Westneat: Evolutionary morphometrics in marine angelfishes: body shape, fin geometry, and defensive spines
Savannah Peralta, advisor David Jablonski: An analysis of bivalve status after the end-Triassic mass extinction based on morphology and biogeography
Adera Craig, advisor Clara Blättler: Retroactive Biomonitoring of Industrial pollution using Museum Specimens: largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) in the Calumet region