Congrats to Sara Padula, a second-year PhD student in the lab, who was granted a 2024 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship!聽The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education. The GRFP provides three years of support over a five-year fellowship period for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM or STEM education.
Sara works on many different research projects in the lab: she is (1) investigating interspecific variation in spatial cognitive abilities and genetics between two closely related species of food-caching chickadee, (2) determining if signatures of selection in the black-capped chickadee genome occur around genes that have been experimentally associated with spatial cognition, (3) examining the interspecific differences in female preference for male body size in black-capped and mountain chickadees, and (4) testing if birds adjust the frequency (Hz) of their song in response to airplane noise. She also is a field technician on the Boulder Chickadee Study!
In addition to research in the lab, Sara has a passion for breaking down barriers for prospective scientists to get involved in research and get connected to career opportunities. To achieve this, she is a graduate student representative in. EBIO club is an on-campus organization that provides resources to EBIO students to get involved in research, learn about career opportunities, and get connected to undergrads, grad students, and professors in the EBIO department.