
Juan
PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Project ideas
The Canvas and Paint Brush of Natural Selection: Traits and Pressures
The traits of an organism are the characteristics that shape their biology, while evolutionary pressures are the environmental challenges that have shaped these traits over time. In this project the student would select an organism and then explore the sources of evolutionary pressure that have shaped that organism's traits. The goal of the project is to build a comprehensive understanding of how evolution takes place by exploring the student's species of interest. We will dive into the biology specific to the species of interest, all while framing this exploration in the context of broader evolutionary concepts. Broader Evolutionary Concepts: - Species and their formation - Natural selection - Sources of pressure - Evolution: past, present, and future