I was a Biochemical Zoology student in the University Professors Program at Boston University. I worked in the Warkentin lab my junior and senior year, including my senior thesis. My thesis project looked at hatching plasticity in zebrafish (Danio rerio) eggs. I investigated the effects of fungal infection and parental cues (adult zebrafish qualify as an egg predator since they will eat their own eggs if not prevented by water currents or the scientist), finally focused on possible conspecific alarm cues contained within zebrafish egg homogenate and the effects of oxygenation or anoxic conditions on hatching timing. This is an especially exciting inquiry because of the familiar nature of the zebrafish. Its status of model laboratory organism may allow future researchers to clarify the mechanisms through which hatching plasticity operates in more complex ecological systems.

I contributed to a study on the behavior of predatory social wasps (Polybia rejecta) when presented with a choice between Agalychnis callidryas egg clutches of different ages (Warkentin, Buckley & Metcalf 2006, Animal Behaviour). I also spent a great summer field season in Panama assisting with a project on how red-eyed treefrog eggs use vibrations to assess danger. After leaving BU I went to veterinary school at Purdue to study small and large animal medicine and agricultural epidemiology.