UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #923

Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Alan Lemmon
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific?: Dr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): alemmon@fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
FSU College (if applicable): Arts and Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Scientific Computing
Headshot (optional): https://cre.fsu.edu/system/files/webform/urop_project_proposal_portal/15241/lemmon.jpg

Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above): {Empty}
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific?: {Empty}
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): {Empty}
Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable): Emily Lemmon
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?: Dr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): chorusfrog@bio.fsu.edu

Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: Using a neural circuit model to understand the divergence of behavior during speciation. 
Project Keywords: speciation, behavioral evolution, neurobiology, computational biology, modeling
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: No
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 2
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s):
Open to all majors

Project Location:: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?: {Empty}
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s):: In-person
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work?: 5-10
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work?: Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Overall Research Project Description:
The student will join a collaboration to compare neural and behavioral phenotypes across divergent populations using neural circuit model written in MatLab. 

Research Tasks:
The work involves performing runs to optimize model parameters to fit phenotype data and using 3D visualization to uncover evolutionary trajectories in high-dimensional parameter space. 

Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
Recommended but not required (just helpful): experience in programming any language.

Mentoring Philosophy:
My approach toward mentoring is to welcome into my laboratory anyone with a passion for science, a willingness to work hard, and the ability to persevere. I have trained and mentored 25 undergraduates from all backgrounds during my 15 years as a faculty member in Biological Science at FSU. Most have gone onto professional programs—graduate, medical, or veterinary school—and to careers in academia, industry, and medicine.

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: {Empty}
Please add any additional information here (if applicable)::
When new undergraduate researchers join my lab, I meet with them individually to determine their backgrounds, experiences, aspirations, and career goals. Then we begin to lay out their pathways to attain these career goals. We discuss the key steps along their paths—how to make the right moves—to become a strong candidate for these future positions. We discuss the timing needed for each step and create multi-year plans with goals for each semester of their undergraduate careers.  When students join my group, I immediately engage them in our diverse ongoing research projects. These activities span multiple branches of biology and include fieldwork , behavioral experiments, genetics labwork, computational bioinformatics bootcamp, and neuroscience experiments. My goal is to expose our undergraduate researchers to multiple branches of biology through our lab’s current projects, so that they can gain direct experience with the possible directions they could pursue in their future scientific careers in biology.


Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable?: Yes
Roundtable times and Zoom links:
Wednesday, September 4, 7:00pm-7:30pm
https://fsu.zoom.us/j/91926530311

Roundtable Info:
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UROP Program Elements
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Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication: Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation: Yes
Materials Grant: Yes
UROP Poster Presentation: Yes

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Year: 2024
update url: https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?element_parents=elements/research_mentor_information/headshot_optional_&ajax_form=1&_wrapper_format=drupal_ajax&token=gg-3a-HYBqgEN2HyhsLeay6t9R1hDIy3Dar6g2Fe1t4