We have accomplished at lot in our time at Georgia Southern University! To continue our growth, we are moving to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, starting Fall 2020!
As always, there are pros and cons to decisions like this. However, being at ULL represents an opportunity for us to expand our research capabilities, and allows me to be closer to family in Houston. As I've matured both professionally and personally, I've realized the importance of both of these things in my vision of success. This means that the next step of my journey is going to involve a few more danger logs (there's a gator swamp on campus!).
Make no mistake, I've had a blast at Georgia Southern! I've met colleagues and worked with with students who have helped me grow in all dimensions of my life. I truly thank them for allowing me to be a part of theirs. As a tribute to these experiences and people, here are some highlights from the past several years:
Research
We hosted 2 visiting researchers in the lab and 3 Departmental seminar speakers.
We collected guppies from Trinidad and established a breeding colony in the lab.
We implemented several methods in the lab, including: breeding and rearing guppies in the lab, genetic maternity/paternity analysis (sort of), swim tunnel respirometry, clearing and staining, DeepLabCut for automated video analysis, geometric morphometrics, and 3D printing.
I was awarded a Research Publication Grant from the American Association of University Women to support our guppy work.
With collaborators Stacy Farina and Patricia Hernandez, we co-organized and funded a symposium on complexity of form and function at SICB.
Alongside collaborators Christian Cox and graduate student Hannah Cohen, we obtained 2 years of funding from GSU student sustainability fees to monitor the recovery of biodiversity in 3 campus ponds after they were dredged.
We published 4 peer-reviewed publications, 2 book chapters, and a non-peer reviewed introduction to the symposium papers. Among the authors were 4 undergraduates and 1 graduate student.
I gave 3 seminar talks at other institutions and we presented 5 talks and 7 posters across meetings for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology and the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Presenters at these meetings included 3 undergraduates and 1 graduate student.
Teaching and Mentoring
I was nominated for a GSU award for excellence in contributions to teaching.
I taught 6 courses, spanning non-majors, majors, and graduate students. Topics included physiology, evolution, comparative anatomy, biomechanics, and science communication.
I collaborated with Amanda Glaze to facilitate discussion of the interaction between ways of knowing about the world and how alternative worldviews affect the perceptions of topics in evolution.
I developed a new upper level biomechanics lecture and lab. Labs were designed in the spirit of CURE courses (course-based undergraduate research) and helped students develop real-world skills in science and science communication.
I served as a primary thesis advisor for 2 graduate students and was on thesis committees for 2 GSU students and the dissertation committee for an external student.
A total of 37 undergraduates have worked in the lab - 15 of which have contributed directly to research projects. Hannah Cohen, my first graduate student, successfully earned her MS and undergraduate Lydia Bonnell defended her Honors thesis!
I served as a mentor to students in several programs, including: NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates, McNair Scholars Program, University Honors Program, Incorporation of Freshmen in Research for Early Experience (IFREE) Program.
Outreach and service
We have built a fruitful collaboration with the GSU Institute for Interdisciplinary STEM Education (i2STEMe) and have participated in events including: STEMfest, Science-to-go events, STEM nights at local schools, STEM field experiences, and GA DNR CoastFest.Many of these events utilized the guppy kits, which were developed previously but replicated in the lab at GSU.
We hosted an event at Statesboro First Fridays and created a video to explain why our science is awesome in response to a call from a middle school teacher.
On campus, we participated in and helped to organize 2 BioBlitzes and spoke to several student groups and classes in the department.
As Outreach Associates, myself and undergraduate William Ray have contributed 3 blog post for the journal Integrative Organismal Biology to highlight recent accepted papers in the journal.
I completed Safe Space training and served on the Departmental Diversity and Inclusion Committee and as an Ambassador for the College of Science and Mathematics Diversity and Inclusion Collaborative.
I was elected Secretary for the SICB Division of Comparative Biomechanics.
I reviewed manuscripts for 8 journals.
Looking back, it's hard to believe we did this much in so little time! I am thankful for these experiences and collaborations, and hopeful that we will continue pursuing these directions and more as we transition to a new department and institution.
Follow along here and on Twitter as I post about our adventures and misadventures in the coming years!