I am Ashlyn Anderson, a December 2020 graduate from the William J. Fulbright College with a bachelors of science in biology. This was my 5th and final semester of research under the direction of Dr. Erica Westerman in the biological sciences department. I successfully defended my thesis, which will be used to aid in a graduate student’s publication.
The COVID-19 pandemic this semester posed many challenges including having to change my research topic. After so much thought, time, and research put in to my first topic, I was disappointed to not be able to see it through. However, I enjoyed my second topic just as much and accrued new skills. My first research project was focused on the mating patterns of male butterflies after multiple matings. This project was a topic my research professor and I developed together which allowed me to develop great dexterity handling the butterflies. Due to the pandemic, the greenhouse was closed and I was unable to perform my tests. Therefore, Dr. Westerman helped me switch topics to analyzing data collected by a graduate student in her lab, Grace Hirzel.
This topic was focused on the effects of temporal variation on ambient light in Northwest Arkansas. I was able to use a coding system called R to analyze and extract different variables of light including total amount of light, wavelength of peak intensity, total amount of UV light, wavelength of UV peak intensity and UV peak intensity at different times of the day, months, locations, and years. Most of my semester was spent learning R to perform statistical analyses and make figures. My analyses will further be used as a baseline of the light in Northwest Arkansas and applied to Junonia coenia (the common buckeye butterfly) wing color change to find the role of light in this phenotype change and possible change in mating preferences. My findings can also be used for other species in Northwest Arkansas studying patterns in changing light and changes in animal behavior.
While this semester looked much different than expected, I was very grateful for my research mentor, Dr. Westerman. Through the lockdowns and set backs in my research, Dr. Westerman was sure to check in on how I was doing regularly as well as being open to come up with a back up plan together and providing many options. She encouraged me to apply for the Honors College Research Grant, she taught me patience when handling the butterflies and she taught me how to code. I felt so lucky to have her as my research professor these past semesters. I was also very grateful for the help of Grace Hirzel, the graduate student in the Westerman lab who collected the data I analyzed and helped me learn R. With my project concluded, my paper will be part of Grace’s and I will be listed as a coauthor when her paper is published.
Now that I have graduated from the University of Arkansas, I am back home in Colleyville, Texas working as a medical scribe and hope to attend medical school this summer.