Staff profile

I completed my MSci at UCL where I studied primate behaviour and evolution, using the Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) as a focal species to explore the evolution of complex tasks amongst non-human primates. Following this, I received my MRes at UCL and completed two research projects. The first was with the Zoological Society of London where I used climate models to assess the viability of current and future areas for the African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus). The second was with the Oliveri Lab where I investigated the regulation and expression of skeletal genes in developing purple sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus).

Currently, I am a PhD student in the McGregor Lab where we are interested in spider evolution and development, using the common house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) as our model. Spiders form their segments sequentially along an anterior-posterior axis from a posterior segment addition zone. This is regulated by the Delta-Notch and Wnt signalling seen in other sequentially segmenting arthropods and is analogous to vertebrate somitogenesis. My research aims to understand how spiders build their segments and will focus on the Delta/Notch signalling pathway, the pair-rule genes, and Hox genes. Ultimately, I will perform a comparative analysis across several spider species.