Hello, everyone! My name is Caroline Kopack and I am a sophomore research assistant this year in Dr. Young’s Locomotion Lab at SMC. For the past few months, I have been collaborating with senior lab member Megan Saunders on her senior composition project. This project centers around using a phylogenetic tree and femur and humerus measurements to understand limb bone shape differences across turtle species. This project pulls data from 88 species across three families (pleurodires, softshells, and emydids). For my part of the project, we utilized a software called Mesquite, which allowed us to compile our data into tables and generate independent contrasts, which will allow us to make shape comparisons between the species studied, independent of genetic relationships. Megan will be presenting part of this work in the spring as her senior comp presentation.
As I am a bio/pre-med major, I originally joined Dr. Young’s laboratory because I was interested in the anatomical side of biology, specifically human anatomy. Given the current circumstances, I have not tried to ascertain the subject of my own project, whether it will be an independent project or will be a continuation of the project I am currently working on. Regardless of what I decide to do, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with Megan on this project. It has given me valuable research experience and has also deepened my appreciation for the researching STEM communities, with which I previously had very little experience. It has been a joy to be a part of this lab and I look forward to seeing what I will be accomplishing in this lab in the future. Comments are closed.
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AuthorsAlok Agwick Archives
February 2024
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