Whitney Lapic

Whitney is currently an MS Geology student at Miami University in Ohio where she studies the evolution of echinoids (sea urchins and sand dollars) as part of the Echinoid Associated Traces Project (EAT). Whitney received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and completed an internship at the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) where she began her research in predator – prey interactions. At the PRI, Whitney worked on identifying predatory microtraces inside of predatory drill holes on the shells of clams and snails. She is continuing to explore predation in the fossil record during her master’s by observing how antipredatory morphologies of sea urchins change through time in response to the emergence and diversification of different groups of predators. When Whitney is not doing research, she spends time with her cat, who is named Quartz, and enjoys both playing and teaching the game of marbles.