I am interested in science because it helps me explore the natural world around us.  I am fascinated by the process of evolution and how organisms adapt to a changing environment through time.  The mode of change over
time of a population, both in terms of morphological and molecular change, is interesting to me, especially when those two types of change are investigated in conjunction with each other.

I got involved with this REU because I find fish to be an interesting vehicle for the study evolution and I wanted to further my understanding of molecular systematics.

This experience was very rewarding for me.  I learned more than I had anticipated about DNA sequencing and troubleshooting.  I also met some great people and had a lot of fun!

My future plans are to enroll in a doctoral program in the fall of 2006, studying some aspect of fish evolution (possibly fish morphology in the context of a molecular phylogeny).  I hope to some day become a professor at the university level, teaching and researching some aspect of biology, evolution, or ichthyology.