I graduated from McGill University with a BSc. in Biology. As an Undergrad, I joined the Abouheif lab in January 2014 and volunteered as an “ant feeder” to help maintain Pheidole colonies in the lab. During my time as a volunteer, I progressively became more enthusiast about and involved in research by shadowing Graduate students.

In the Fall of 2016, I decided to undertake an Honors research project in the Abouheif lab. For two semesters, I worked closely with MSc student Angelica Lillico-Ouachour to investigate the chemical basis of subcaste ratio regulation in ant societies. This projected exposed me to the Eco-Evo-Devo paradigm for the first time. I became totally captured by ants and their complex societies, and in September 2017, I formally joined the Abouheif lab as a Master’s student.

I am excited to start my investigation of the regulatory mechanisms that govern complex systems – I aim to characterize the chemical, behavioral and developmental mechanisms of caste regulation in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole.