Graduate Students

  • Justin Walsh completed his M.S. in 2014 at Villanova, where he studied larval competition based on residency, sex, size and kinship in the rattlebox moth. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania. For more on rattlebox moth projects, click the photo above.
  • Andrea Egan completed her M.S. in 2014 at Villanova, where she studied paternity based on female mating history in the rattlebox moth. She currently works at Lancaster Laboratories. For more on rattlebox moth projects, click the photo above.
  • Caitlin Kelly completed her M.S. in 2009 at Villanova, where she studied male pheromones in the rattlebox moth. Caitlin recently received her Ph.D. from UC Boulder, where she studied the role of plant secondary metabolites in tritrophic interactions. For more on moth projects, click the photo.
  • Frank Iosue completed his M.S. in 2008 at Villanova, where he studied the role of phytochemicals and leaf cushion morphology in host resistance to the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. Frank is currently a biologist/group leader at Lancaster Laboratories in PA. For more on Lancaster Labs, click the photo.

 

The Department of Biology at Villanova University has a two-year Master’s program, where both M.S. (thesis) and M.A. (non-thesis) degrees are offered. Master’s students conducting thesis work in my lab have opportunities for both field and laboratory-based research, with an emphasis on acquiring foundational and specialized skills for future employment. To this end, I strongly encourage students to present their work at local meetings (e.g., Lehigh Valley Ecology and Evolution Symposium) and national conferences (e.g., Animal Behavior Society and the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology) and publish their work in peer-reviewed journals. I strongly encourage interested prospective graduate students to contact me prior to applying if you are considering Master’s research with me.

 

COMPLETED MASTER’S THESES (for more detail, please see my Research Page):

Egan, Andrea. 2014. Polyandrous females provide sons with more competitive sperm: Support for the Sexy-Sperm Hypothesis in the Rattlebox Moth (Utetheisa ornatrix)

Walsh, Justin. 2014. Win, Lose, or Draw: Effects of size, sex, and kinship on high-stakes larval contests in the Rattlebox Moth (Utetheisa ornatrix)

Kelly, Caitlin. 2009. Male courtship pheromones are indicators of genetic quality in an Arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix)

Iosue, Frank. 2008. The role of phytochemicals and leaf cushion morphology in host resistance to the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae)