Many SDSU Biology graduate students have, or are currently conducting, specimen-based research. Our students advance the study of regional binational ecosystems and their organisms, through excellence in data-driven research and analysis of evolutionary processes from the molecular to continental scales.
Current Museum Graduate Student Projects
Tobias Hays, Exploring a possible Ring of Species in California Trapdoor Spiders. Toby has spent time in the field in California collecting voucher specimens for morphological and molecular study, and is conducting biogeographic analyses to understand patterns of spatial diversification in California.
Alyssa Head, Morphological and genetic shifts in an expanding population of a globally introduced species, the Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus). Alyssa is interested in how genetic variation and functional morphology contribute to the success of introduced species in novel environments and she is currently comparing historical and contemporary specimens of introduced wall lizards in Los Angeles to their relatives back in Taormina, Italy.
Danielle Parsons, Floristics of Palomar College Native and Naturalized Plants. Danielle will be documenting the native and naturalized plants of properties east of Palomar College, with both iNaturalist observations and herbarium voucher specimens. See Palomar College Native & Naturalized Plants.
Michael Tofflemire, Comparative Phylogeography of Birds in the California Floristic Province. Michael is using genetic samples of specimens in our museum to study the comparative phylogeography of four co-distributed species in California (Wrentit, California Thrasher, White-headed Woodpecker, and Mountain Chickadee). By studying multiple species, he will be able to address whether all species responded in the same way to the same biogeographic events. That is, what is the historical pattern of community structure? Have some species co-existed in the same community and habitat longer than others? Are some species more likely to undergo range expansions and habitat shifts?