Species Distribution Modelling of Darters

environmental science, biology, GIS, evolution, rivers

Research Mentor: Maya Stokes, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: EOAS, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: mfstokes@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Wednesday, September 6: 1 PM - 1:30 PM, https://fsu.zoom.us/j/7735819784
Friday, September 8: 12-12:30 PM, https://fsu.zoom.us/j/7735819784

Project Description

The southeastern United States is a temperate freshwater biodiversity hotspot host. However, little is known about the mechanisms that have generated this remarkable richness. This project will characterize the ecological axes of diversification in Darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae), a charismatic clade of freshwater fish endemic to North America. Students will use GIS to analyze environmental datasets and produce species distribution models. Computational analysis will be supplemented with literature review to characterize information about microhabitat specialists and life history in darters.

Research Tasks: data analysis, literature review, GIS

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: GIS and/or coding (R or python) recommend (not required!)