Interests
        I'm currently in my fourth year of undergraduate work at Ohio State.  I'll be graduating this Spring with a BS in entomology.  I've been an entomology major for about a year now, but thus far I've only dipped my toe into the (by no means stagnant) pool of insect research here.  Until now!  This winter quarter I'll be working under Brian Smith.  I'll be assessing the sensitization of taste receptors in Drosophila melanogaster.  I'm anxious to get past the anxious phase and get into the full swing of research.
 
        Why entomology?  Because insects are so neat!  That something so small can harbor so many beautifully complex structures and can display such seemingly intelligent, almost conscious, behavior is fascinating to me.  Seeing ants foraging for food or bringing some dead moth back to the hill amazes me.  The ants adjust so well to changing circumstances (e.g., I move the moth).  It seems that if I were to try to do the things they do, I would have to think.  Yet I know the ants are acting at the behest of a hardwired nervous system.  Amazing!  My curiosity about behavior has led me to be interested in the neurological basis of behavior.  I don't know a lot yet, but I plan to find out.
 
        Beyond "Wow!", I chose entomology because it's a way to narrow my educational focus without limiting my options in the life sciences.  Insects can be studied at the community level, the organismal level, and down to the molecular level.  Entomology seems like a crossroads where ecology, molecular genetics, behavior, biochemistry, and microbiology all meet.  And it's not as if these subjects are all compartmentalized within  entomology. Discoveries in one area can and often do have implications in another area.  For example, discovering insect hormones or neuroactive chemicals can have applications in pest control and agriculture.  I find the interconnectedness of the field very exciting.