No science without people
For me, good science is based on diverse perspectives and teamwork. Behind every project, there are amazing people who make it possible—from catching spiders in the field, to feeding and rearing them, to fancy video tracking, stats and actually writing papers. Meet the current team of students and some of my ongoing collaborators!
StudentsZoe Umbach | MA student | she/herStudent research assistant
I’m a bachelor’s student working on my thesis and eager to get into scientific research. Between trying to get a hold of my lab book chaos and assuming spider genders, I’m fulfilling a childhood dream by working with spiders – a surprise for sure, but a welcome one!
Editor's note: Zoe has super successfully passed her BA and we are trying to lure her into more spider adventures for her MA! |
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Chiara Hirschkorn | MA student | she/herStudent research assistant
I’m a master's student currently studying conspicuous locomotion in a salticid. This is exactly what it sounds like: I watch them shake their butts all day. I’m also interested in birding, but because keeping hundreds of birds turned out to be a bit tough, I opted for a thesis on jumping spiders instead – with the added benefit of annoying friends with spider pictures.
Editor's note: Chiara has wild crocheting skills (see Elif's jumping spider below!) |
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Nadja Geiger | MA student | she/her
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Student research assistant
As a master's student in the lab, my preliminary challenge is to get closer to unravelling the mysterious questions about (REM) sleep-like behaviors in spiders. Practically, I am trying to catch as many sleepy spiders in front of my lense as possible and carefully watch them twitch, curl, yawn, and roll their eyes (disclaimer: at least one could be made up; also sounds a bit creepy I must admit). However, I’m super happy to get to dive into behavioral ecology excitingly combined with the field of sleep research, to explore new cool behaviors in these completely underrated but highly interesting and fantastic animals!
Editor's note: Nothing was made up! |
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Paul Kopp | BA student |
Student research assistant
To be updated soon
Snata Chakraborty | MA student |
To be updated soon
Past interns
Elif Başarır | BA student |I’m an undergraduate student from Turkey who had the pleasure of being an intern in the Spider Lab in summer ‘22. I studied taste preference in jumping spiders by introducing them to lavender oil infused water and cheering whenever they drank it. I had the opportunity to learn about the unexpected world of jumping spiders, which left me wondering whether spiders might not participate in my experiments just out of spite.
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Janka Plate | MA student |
To be updated soon
