Skyler Berardi and Benjamin Glass were awarded Dissertation Completion Fellowships by the Graduate Division of the School of Arts and Sciences for 2024 - 2025.
Skyler is a fifth year student in Dr. Paul Schmidt's lab. She has conducted field and laboratory experiments on natural populations of D. melanogaster to uncover the key ecological factors driving evolution of complex traits. Her work includes comprehensive analyses that map genotype to phenotype in the context of rapid adaptation, providing insights to evolutionary rescue as a mechanism for combatting rapid climate change.
Ben Glass also explores the threat of climate change. His work examines the influence of stessors, including ocean acidification and heat stress, on the reproduction and development of corals and sea anemones. Part of his project is contributing to the development of the sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, as a model species to study cnidarian reproduction and development. Ben is a fourth year student in Dr. Katie Barott's lab.