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 (Hedin Lab), 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 (Brock Lab), 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 is 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 (Burns Lab), 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?
Amber Singh (Brock Lab), Lizard SCUE: Stress Cognition, and Urban Evolution. Amber is studying how urbanization and stress influence cognition and behavior in co-occurring lizard species in southern California: native Western Fence Lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis) and introduced Italian Wall Lizards (Podarcis siculus). In addition to contributing hundreds of new whole specimens and tissues to the Reptiles and Amphibians collection through her research, Amber is also working to improve the collection by transferring older specimens into fresh ethanol for long-term preservation.
Tucker Heptinstall (Brock Lab), City Serpents: Exploring Snake Evolution in Modern and Ancient Cities. Tucker’s research is focused on how urban infrastructure like roads and housing developments influences the presence, abundance, movement, and gene flow of snakes in new and ancient cities. Tucker is contributing whole snake specimens and tissues from new city habitats across San Diego County and hundreds of snake tissues from ancient cities in the Greek archipelago. He is using these tissues to analyze population dynamics and gene flow in the face of long and short-term urbanization.
Sam Wilson (Brock Lab), Changing Landscapes Changing Tactics: The Impact of Novel Environments on Gecko Defense Strategies. Sam is studying convergent morphology-behavior relationships in geckos in their native range in the Mediterranean (Patras, Greece) and introduced range in southern California (San Diego). Sam is using museum specimens to create 3D gecko models deployed in urban and non-urban settings to quantify predation rates. He’s also contributing gecko tissues and whole specimens to the Reptiles and Amphibians collection.
Ian Ashton (Hedin Lab), Possible de-speciation in Habronattus jumping spiders. Ian is studying multiple parallel jumping spider hybrid zones to understand if color preferences are driving unidirectional introgression, such that a broad-ranging species is introgressing into a more narrowly-distributed species, causing the latter to go extinct. Ian’s work combines fieldwork, morphological study, and subgenomics.