Marissa D. Email and Phone Number

I grew up in the beautiful pacific northwest, and my backyard was my laboratory. I am privileged to have parents who encouraged my scientific curiosities, and they guided me to research my questions about the organisms in our backyard and around the world. My love of animals and plants has transformed over the years into a desire to research and conserve wildlife through experimental and modeling techniques. Through my undergraduate experiences, I have gained more tools every year to help me grow into a better investigator.Through my experiences in turtle ant research with Dr. Donaldson-Matasci, I have refined my computational skills and designed custom synthetic structures for ant environments. This required me to become familiar with Solid Works and 3-D printers, Adobe Illustrator, and a laser cutter to make precise designs. I also learned field techniques for collecting insects by hand and identifying them. I will have the opportunity to present my findings at the 2024 Ecological Society of America Conference. Through my mathematical modeling research project with Dr. Adolph, I have improved upon my Python skills and linear algebra proficiency. I am now conducting electrophysiology experiments with Yellow Fever Mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) and will attend the 2024 International Conference of Neuroethology.In addition to research, I have gained technical skills in laboratory courses. I have completed 6 laboratory courses or practicums at Harvey Mudd College. From biology laboratory courses and research, I am familiar with pipetting, PCR protocols, electrophoresis protocols, spectrophotometry for Michaelis- Menten enzymatic kinetics, measuring blood pressure with a sphygmomanometer, random sampling of organisms with quadrats, collection of live specimens in the field, particularly ants, and electrophysiology protocols on live insects. In chemistry courses, I was exposed to mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy, and running titrations. Through physics, I learned to power an acoustic levitator and solar panels by adjusting the voltage and current. In systems engineering, I was taught how to build circuits in order to power sensors that could send information to an oscilloscope, which I would then analyze.