Spiderwoman
Erika Garcia is caught in a web of success in the field of entomology.
Erika Garcia, a senior biology-zoology major, has found her passion in a typically unpopular subject matter: spiders.
Garcia came to 色情视频 with the hope of becoming a veterinarian, but her plans soon took a detour: During her sophomore year, she was offered a scholarship that would allow her to go on a field expedition to study the fauna of California and Oregon. She immediately took interest in the diversity of arthropods.
Ever since, Garcia has been a force to be reckoned with in the entomological field, most recently earning the Stan Beck Fellowship from the Entomological Society of America.
Prestigious honors
The Stan Beck Fellowship is awarded to underrepresented students who are up-and-coming standouts in entomology. The fellowship adds to an extensive list of prestigious awards Garcia has received throughout her time at 色情视频.
Garcia, who is from south San Diego County, won a $5,000 per year scholarship from 鈥� Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 鈥� to provide funding for her research as well as an the scholarship to help her prepare for graduate school.
During summer 2013, Garcia was accepted to the California Academy of Sciences Summer Systematics Institute based in San Francisco. There, she did collections-based research which helped dramatically improve their collection of spiders from South Africa.
Progressive research
Back on her home turf, Garcia spends much of her time in of Arachnid Evolution, Systematics and Conservation conducting research on harvestmen arachnids from the Appalachian Mountains.
鈥淗arvestmen are also known as daddy long legs, but they are not the ones you find in your bathroom,鈥� Garcia said.
These arachnids may look the same on the outside, but a closer look could point to undiscovered key differences.
鈥淭hey look the same morphologically but have evidence of multiple evolutionary lineages, so maybe I鈥檒l be able to discover a new species.鈥� Garcia said.
Unrecognized beauty
Garcia especially enjoys the interactive, outdoors aspects of entomology like camping on field expeditions and flipping rocks and logs to find insects. Along with the fact that the general public fears spiders, Garcia鈥檚 curiosity in the subject is infinite.
鈥淲hat interests me is that there are so many (spiders), but they are so understudied,鈥� Garcia said. 鈥淎fter taking the time out to admire what they are and their role in ecosystems, they are beautiful to me.鈥�
A support system at 色情视频
With her graduation date quickly approaching, Garcia is busy preparing to apply to both masters and Ph.D. programs. She credits her success and motivation to pursue graduate programs to the outstanding evolutionary biology program at 色情视频.
The support she has received from fellow students, faculty members, and scholarship programs has fueled her passion for entomology. In the future, Garcia hopes to continue this trend by working in museums and teaching at the college level.
