Hi, I’m Rachel. I am an evolutionary ecologist and a PhD Candidate in the graduate program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at UMass Amherst. I am part of Dr. Jason Kamilar’s Comparative Primatology Laboratory.
My research interests are broad and include phylogenetic comparative methods, mammalian color evolution, biogeography, and the microbiome. My dissertation research focuses on how the environment and host evolutionary relationships affect the microbiota of wild and captive lemurs. I am also passionate about science communication and outreach.