A primary focus of my lab’s current research is to understand how complex features evolve. We are especially aiming to connect evolutionary changes in genes to changes in form and function. In particular, we are studying the evolution of genes involved in animal vision. We want to know where vision genes came from and how they diversified. We also want to know what particular mutations were involved in the origins of new functions at the origins of vision. A related project is studying the evolution of eyes in ostracod crustaceans. A local species has males with eyes and females without eyes. We want to know why and how that radical difference between the sexes originated.

For me, undergraduate research was an eye opening experience. I, like many undergraduates, did not understand that a large fraction of a professor’s job is research. Undergraduates see the teaching side in lectures, but comparatively few are aware of the world class and ground-breaking research going on here at UCSB. To me, this illustrates two significant opportunities. First, undergraduates can be exposed to a potential career path that might not have occurred to them. We all visit doctors and dentists, and so those types of jobs enter our minds easily. We may not as quickly think of research careers, yet many people will find them to be perfect career choices. Even if research does not end up to be a career path, like it has for me, the opportunity of being able to participate in world-class research is an amazing life experience. UCSB researchers are making new discoveries every day, and this is one of the true strengths of being at a research institution. Students should take advantage of this opportunity.

Research experiences in my lab are quite varied. I try to match student projects to their interests; something I find is a prerequisite for success. Two students traveled for 6 weeks to Puerto Rico to describe the biology and life history of a new species (the story is described here). Their work led to a paper describing the new species and some of its biology. Several other students have learned molecular techniques, including PCR and sequencing, aimed at elucidating the evolutionary relationships of ostracod crustaceans that vary in the types of eyes they possess, or aimed at identifying vision genes in animals like squid and octopus. One undergraduate student is conducting behavioral studies on Hydra, an animal without eyes that possesses genes for sensing light. She is exposing the invertebrate animal to drugs that interfere with particular vision genes, to test if those genes are involved in Hydra’s behavioral responses to light. Other students have done library research characterizing the fossil record of ostracod crustaceans. Students who join my lab could expect to work on similar projects, depending on the current research in the lab, and the student’s own interests and commitment.

First, and most important, identify something that really sparks your own interest. The best research is motivated by an inherent curiosity, a desire to know the answer, or perhaps by an unexplainable draw to the aesthetics of the research. Visit some faculty websites or take note of what interests you in lectures. Then seek out a way to get involved with those projects. Contact professors and/or TAs to ask how you can get involved in their research, the earlier the better. To be successful, you should be highly self-motivated and be prepared to spend a significant amount of time in the lab, for at least one school year, ideally more.

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