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![A closeup photo of a freshwater mussel](/sites/default/files/styles/page_hero/public/media/image/2thumbnailedit.jpg.webp?itok=bcGJrpJD)
John is a Research Zoologist and Curator of Bivalves in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology. John’s research is focused on the diversity, distribution and decline of freshwater mussels and relies on genomics, biodiversity informatics, and field work.
X: @mud_lark
Makiri is a molecular scientist in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology. She coordinates our department’s molecular work focused on mollusks (and many other inverts).
Freya is a microscopy, morphology and imaging specialist in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology. She coordinates our department’s CT scanning, histology, and illustration work.
Dr. Caitlin Bloomer is currently a postdoctoral researcher with the Illinois Natural History Survey. Her research examines the ecology, life history, and biogeographic patterns of burrowing crayfish to improve their conservation management. As a Kenneth Jay Boss Fellow (2022) in the lab she collated life history data, including body size and fecundity, from over 400 museum specimens in the NMNH Invertebrate Zoology collection. These data will be used to inform the life history strategies and extinction risk of rare and cryptic crayfish species across North America. Learn more about Caitlin at her webpage.
Alex is a PhD candidate at the University of Oklahoma and a former Kenneth Jay Boss Fellow (2022). Alex is interested in aquatic biodiversity and the mechanisms that have promoted diversification of freshwater fish and mussel lineages across North America. Alex is using a genomics (genome skimming, RAD sequencing, etc.), morphometrics (2D and 3D imaging), and experimental approaches (behavior experiments) to unravel the complex phylogeographic and morphological patterns underlying a group of mussels known as ‘pigtoes’. X: @ellipsaria
Sean was a predoctoral fellow (2021-2022) supervised by John Pfeiffer and Stewart Edie (NMNH Paleobiology) where he used NMNH freshwater mussel collections and CT-scanning to illuminate patterns of ecomorphological evolution at intra- and interspecific scales. Sean continues to collaborate with the Pfeiffer Lab on related projects including understanding the systematics of Mesoamerican freshwater mussels. Sean is currently Collection Manager of Invertebrate Zoology at the Field Museum.
Stephanie is a British artist and writer. She was an UK Arts and Humanities Research Council International Placement Scheme Fellow (2021-2022) who used the NMNH collections to produce an epic poem about the ecological and cultural history of the Potomac from the perspective of its freshwater mussels. ‘Pearl: a Mussels’ Perspective’ is a tale of love, species loss, and extinction. She is currently working on some new mollusc-based interactive narratives.
X: @SJ_MoranUK
Yu Kai was a Kenneth Jay Boss Fellow in 2021, studying phenotypic variation and tradeoffs in functionally-linked traits in North American freshwater mussels along river gradients, using linear and novel 3D morphometry. Yu Kai is currently pursuing a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of Michigan, taking a close look at the evolution of anti-predation behavior of deep sea carrier snails.
Andy DY Tan was volunteer in the lab in 2021, apart from designing posters for the molluscan type collection, he analyzed data aimed at better understanding how shell traits vary along a river gradient in several North American freshwater mussels, alongside Yu Kai Tan. Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, Andy studies macroevolution of defense and visual complexities in file clams (Limidae). He also harbors a keen interest in exploring how photosymbiotic interactions might influence the evolution of mitogenomes in cardiid bivalves, such as giant clams and heart cockles.