UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #924

Research Mentor Information
---------------------------
Primary Research Mentor Name: Emily 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): chorusfrog@bio.fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
FSU College (if applicable): Arts and Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Biological Science
Headshot (optional): https://cre.fsu.edu/system/files/webform/urop_project_proposal_portal/15246/Emily-Lemmon-2-3x2.jpg

Additional Research Mentor(s)
-----------------------------
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): Alan Lemmon
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?: Dr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): alemmon@fsu.edu

Overall Project Details
-----------------------
Title of the Project: Genome wide association study (GWAS) to identify the genes underlying behavioral divergence during frog speciation
Project Keywords: speciation, genomics, behavioral evolution, neurobiology, statistical analysis
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 identify speciation genes using a newly assembled frog genome. We have been studying the chorus frog system for ~20 years to understand how reproductive behaviors (male acoustic signals and female preferences for these signals) diverge and evolve as new species form. We are just gaining insight into the genes that underlie these changes. The student will have the opportunity to join ongoing fieldwork to collect and phenotype frogs (record male calls in a controlled environment), as well as conduct statistical analysis to find genetic markers associated with variation in the phenotype.

Research Tasks:
The student could participate in winter/early spring fieldwork on our frog study system, and/or record and analyze male acoustic signals, and/or perform a GWAS.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
Required: interest and enthusiasm for scientific research; motivation to work hard and persevere through challenges; positive attitude; determination to learn; ability to work individually and as part of a team.
Recommended but not required (just helpful): experience in statistics and/or fieldwork.


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 76 undergraduates from all backgrounds during my 14 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.
	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.

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)::
{Empty}


Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable?: Yes
Roundtable times and Zoom links:
Tuesday September 3rd from 7:00-7:30pm (zoom; https://fsu.zoom.us/j/96719535758)

Roundtable Info:
{Empty}

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

{Empty}
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=40IUDLix85W0jdvRJJcmidozo15Cvc2ntzoPCqa4FqI