Awardee: May Jiang
Bio:
May Jiang is a fourth year Biology undergraduate interested in urban animal ecology and plant biology. In collaboration with David Daversa, she is investigating the model organism Sceloporus occidentalis, specifically its urban ecophysiology and the transient behavioral effects of ocular blood sampling. Previously, she conducted visual encounter surveys and quantified S. occidentalis urban habitat patches on UCLA’s campus using QGIS. After graduating, she hopes to pursue a PhD and continue her passion for research. When she’s not looking at lizards, May likes to play water polo, climb, surf, and collage.
Project:
I aim to explore whether ocular blood sampling has short-term (i.e. transient) negative effects on the functional behavior of Sceloporus occidentalis, specifically related to feeding behavior with active prey (crickets). My work will provide the first empirical evidence for transient effects on this technique and contribute towards a larger research program, led by my advisor, David Daversa, developing epigenetic models of welfare and stress in urban reptiles. This research will generate baseline data to inform this project while validating a proposed blood sampling procedure, and will be used to refine future S. occidentalis research methods.