May is a micropaleontologist, specializing in marine benthic ostracods. Ostracods is a large class of bivalved crustaceans with a wide variety of ecological preferences and is useful in paleoecological studies. She is interested in understanding how ostracods originated, distributed, or went extinct in response to paleoenvironmental changes during the Cenozoic. She enjoys studying ostracods while participating in ocean-drilling expeditions and working with many scientists from diverse backgrounds. She will be in the NMNH from Jan 2021–Dec 2022.
