Sustainability Leadership Fellow Cohort: 2018-2019
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biology
Research Summary: To grow, crustaceans (crabs, lobsters and shrimp) discard their outer shell and generate a new one during their molt cycle. Natural activities such as feeding, mating, and reproduction are paused through the period of molting, and some species cope with extreme environmental variations of temperature, oxygen, and humidity that may disturb molting. My research focuses on molting process regulation at DNA level, by using molecular biology analysis. My goal is to understand the mechanisms controlling inhibition of molting by environmental stress in crabs, particularly increased temperature due to changing climate; which may enhance the negative effects of stress on molting.