Current Reserach
Stay tuned for my work out of the Roberts Lab at Brown University!
Doctoral Research
Cranial Ligament Evolution in Wrasse
I worked on wrasse (family Labridae) skulls and their cranial ligaments, specifically the coronomaxillary, interoperculomandibular, and operculohyoid. I am interested in understanding the limitations to the skull and why the wrasse skull moves and looks the way it does. I am trying to answer this question by understanding the evolution and function of the ligaments within the cranium. This research involved CT scanning many wrasse skulls as part of #Backthatwrasseup and the #OVert intiatives, field work to French Polynesia and the Florida Keys, and the mechanical testing of cranial ligaments in wrasse skulls. I completed this work as my dissertation in 2023.
Lungfish Feeding using XROMM
I have investigated how lungfish are able to suction feed using X-ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology (XROMM). These fishes have a highly reduced and fused skull compared to other fishes. We found lungfish to rely mainly on the depression of their ceratohyal, the only bony element of their hyoid, to drive suction feeding. The ceratohyal is able to rotate all three degrees of freedom, but mainly rotates ventrally and medially. We also found lungfish to be extremely slow feeders and have slower suction feeding strikes than some aquatic salamanders. From this data, we concluded lungfish suction feeding relies on water volume changes rather than speed to successfully capture prey. This research has been published in Biology Open in 2022.
Undergraduate Research
Organ Topology of Moray Eels
I investigated the effects of diet on the organ topology and organ length proportions between two carnivorous dietary categories in moray eels: durophagy (hard-shelled prey) and piscivory (fish prey). I also looked at the interspecific variation of the organ topology between nine species of morays and the intraspecific organ scaling within the California moray eel, Gymnothorax mordax. We found that the heart, spleen, liver, and gall bladder are proportionally smaller in durophagous morays compared to piscivores and within G. mordax the organs scale isometrically over ontogeny. I presented my research at the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference in San Francisco 2018 through a poster presentation. We published our research in Zoology entitled "Effects of Diet and Intraspecific Scaling on the Viscera of Muraenid Fishes" (2020).
Mangrove Communities in Baja (May 2017)
This research investigated the differences in the three mangrove communities in different places within the mangrove. We compared the epibiont, benthic and fish communities between the lagoon, main channel, and side channel within the mangrove on Isla San Jose. These three locations varied in how protected the communities were from the surrounding ocean with the lagoon being the least sheltered and the side channel being the most sheltered. Overall we found that the diversity in fish and epibionts living on the mangrove roots decreased in the lagoon. Additionally, the benthic substrate was sandy in the lagoon and was densely covered by organic detritus in the side channel.
Behavioral Ecology of Octopus in Corsica, France (Oct. 2016)
We investigated the feeding behavior and prey choice of three species of octopus, Octopus vulgaris, Callisoctopus macropus, and Octopus salutii, found within the harbor of Stareso Station De Recherches Sous Marines Et Océanographiques (STARESO) in Calvi, Corsica, France. Laboratory trials were run to investigate if these three species minimized interspecific competition through different foraging behaviors and prey choice. Overall we found that the species had variable prey choice and different foraging behaviors that suggest competition for prey is minimized within the harbor.
Antagonistic Calls in Northern Elephant Seals at Año Nuevo (Mar.-May 2016)
I investigated the peak frequency found within the antagonistic calls of Northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris. I looked to see if there was a peak frequency favored by the alpha males and if there was a pattern seen over ontogeny within sub-adult to adult males. I found that there is no peak frequency that is consistent with alpha males. Additionally the variation within each class of males was found to be to high to make any broad conclusions.