It’s been a big year in the Johnson Lab! We’ve attended conferences, won awards, wished our graduates well, and welcomed new lab members. We’ve had much to celebrate this year!
In January, lab members Shelby Irwin, Daisy Horr, and Amy Payne attended the meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in Tampa, and each presented a poster on their work. And, Isabela Carson presented a poster on testis and sperm morphology in lizards at the Texas Conservation Symposium, where she won the first place award for a presentation by an undergraduate!
As a junior, Shelby Irwin won the 2019 “Distinction of Excellence Award for Research Design and Outstanding Research from the STEM Disciplines” from Trinity’s Coates Library annual Research Thing competition.
In April, seniors Amy Payne and Daisy Horr both successfully defended their senior theses and were granted “Honors in Biology” at graduation. We miss our graduates Amy, Daisy, Jesus Vega, and Sam Afshari in the lab, but they’re all off to grand adventures!
We had a strong summer research team in 2019! Laura Taylor was awarded a Murchison Fellowship from Trinity University to support her summer research on the effects of artificial light at night on lizard behavior. Laura joined Abby Dennis, Isabela Carson, and Oliver Pertuit as the 2019 summer research crew in the lab.
This past fall, Abby Dennis and Laura Taylor presented their senior thesis work at the Texas Herpetological Society meeting, and first-year students David Izquierdo and Isaac Agumadu have joined the lab. They’ve been mentored by our amazing juniors, Ethan Bailey and Bela Carson.
Finally, Dr. Michele Johnson received a 2019 “Best of the Best” faculty achievement award from Trinity University.
And now, onward to 2020! Watch out, lizards - here we come!