Department of Biology

Emma Boehm is working on a Ph.D. degree in the Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior Graduate Program. She is a member in the laboratory of Jen Lau, an associate professor of biology. In the Lau lab, Boehm is currently involved with three different research projects: 1) how epigenetic variance contributes to plasticity, 2) how timing of stress changes the type of seeds jewelweed produces, and 3) how temporal variation influences the evolution of plasticity. Broadly, Boehm is curious about how plants respond to climate change and, generally, environmental variation. More specifically, she is interested in the intersection between adaptive evolution and adaptive plasticity. The idea is that plasticity, or the ability to change your trait without changing your genotype, might allow plant populations to rapidly respond to environmental changes and lead to more evolutionary adaptation by preserving more of the population. Upon completion of her Ph.D., Boehm plans to continue her education through a postdoctoral position with the ultimate goal of becoming a professor.

Josh Jones is also pursuing a Ph.D. degree in the Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior Graduate Program. He is broadly interested in ways that hosts interact with the microbes in their environment, especially in instances where the presence or absence of those microbes have a significant impact on the fitness of the host. Jones is working on two separate but related projects in the Onthophagus dung beetle system in the laboratory of Armin Moczek, professor of biology. One project describes possible functional capabilities of microbes contained within the microbiome of Onthophagus taurus by producing and annotating a metagenome which should provide insights into the ways in which the microbiome helps the beetles in filling their ecological niche. The other project is to quantify methods by which Onthophagus taurus maintains these microbes across generations, despite there being no direct contact between parent and offspring, and across life stages, despite the potential for separation during transitions. These projects will provide direct insights into the nature of the relationship between the Onthophagus beetles and their microbiome as well as broader insights into insect-microbe relationships as a whole. Jones intends to pursue a post doctoral position after graduation in hopes of then obtaining a faculty position at a university.

Abigail McClain will graduate in May with honors in biology (B.S.) and honors in Spanish (B.A.) as well as a minor in anthropology. She is completing an honors thesis in the Department of Biology validating a procedure for immunoglobulin A quantification in howler monkey fecal samples. Her research mentor is Michael Wasserman, an assistant professor of anthropology and human biology, with whom she's worked in the Primate Environmental Endocrinology Lab during most of time as an undergraduate. McClain is an IU Wells Scholar; she credits the mentorship and support she received from the program in making possible much of what she's been able to achieve. McClain is also a selected member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and an IU Founders Scholar. She will be entering George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in the fall as a master's student in human paleobiology. While at G.W., she plans to study anthropogenic-driven landscape change and its effect on disease dynamics. McClain hopes to work in the conservation field and is considering applying to Ph.D. programs in that area after completing her master's degree.

Ford Fishman (Lennon lab) and Eric Navarro (Hurley lab)—who are both Ph.D. students in the IU Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior Graduate Program—were listed as Honorable Mention. The NSF accords Honorable Mention to meritorious applicants who did not receive fellowship awards. GRFP Honorable Mention is itself a significant national academic achievement, providing access to cyberinfrastructure resources (including supercomputing time) through the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE).