Tell us a little bit about yourself. Outside of science I enjoy reading manga, collecting Pokémon cards, and playing video games.
Describe what you do. I am an undergraduate researcher. I recently finished a project which involved entering geographic information of echinoderms (animals like and including sea stars, sea lilies, sea cucumbers, etc.) into a database so that we could analyze their biogeographic patterns (how the animals moved through time and space) in the geologic record.
I have done class visits with groups of fourth graders as a part of the Scientists in Every Florida School program to teach them about geology.
Discuss your path into science. I used to want to be a lawyer for as long as I can remember, but on my 17th birthday, I visited the American Museum of Natural History and was smitten with their dinosaur exhibits! After leaving, I was unsure if I wanted to continue pursuing a career in law, so I did some basic research of how much I could expect to make as a paleontologist (to make sure I could still support myself and a family) and decided to commit to the switch. After that, I have been pursuing dinosaur paleontology as best I can!
Discuss other scientific interests. I’m very interested in birds and reptiles, specifically snakes. If I couldn’t study nonavian (non-bird) dinosaurs, I would study one of those groups of animals in the fossil record. I’ve also become quite attached to crinoids since starting my undergraduate degree, so they would be my invertebrate pick!
How does your work contribute to the betterment of society in general? Hopefully, with the echinoderm geographic data that I’ve collected, we can better understand of echinoderm evolution through time as well as how they dispersed across the world over time.
I hope that I’ve convinced the classes I’ve visited that geology is a science that rocks! More than that, I also hope that I’ve made them more curious about how our world works, and to keep asking amazing questions and finding equally amazing answers.
Is there anything you wish you had known before going into science? Mainly, what classes I would have to take. In my case, I had multiple major options, but didn’t look too far into them. I’m very happy where I am now, although I’m sure there is an alternate universe version of me that is going down the biology route.
Have you received a piece of advice from your friends/mentors/advisors that has helped you navigate your career? I’ve gotten good advice about grad school. In particular, I should be reaching out to professors I would like to work with a good while before applications are due.