Data-driven approaches to understanding the ecology of arthropods on islands.
George Roderick, Professor
Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2025.
In our lab, we are interested in the ecology and evolutionary history of arthropod (insect and spider) species. We mostly study arthropods from Hawaii and other islands in the Pacific, but also species in California and elsewhere. Some are native species, some are recent invasive species, and some are introduced for biological control. This project uses data from different sources (museum records, genetic data, stable isotopes, historical records, etc.). Possible areas of study include: interpreting recent histories of invasive arthropod populations, understanding the impacts of climate change on species distributions, and resolving deeper phylogenetic relationships among species.
Role: Working with insect or spider collection data, and depending on interests, working with genetic data, GIS, mapping, and climate studies.
Qualifications: No previous experience is necessary, but the student should have interests in insects or spiders, and helpful would be GIS, machine learning, and some experience with coding in R or python, or be willing to learn!
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Sven Weber, Post-Doc
Hours: to be negotiated
Off-Campus Research Site: On campus, Wellman and Hilgard Halls. Off campus work from home is appropriate for this project as well.
Environmental Issues Biological & Health Sciences