The field of evolutionary biology is a branch of biology concerned with exploring species of the past and linking them to the species of today. This involves studying adaptation, molecular evolution, genetic drift, and biogeography. More specifically, the sub-field of biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems spatially and temporally". The premise of this sub-field is that organisms will vary among different latitudes, elevation, isolation, and habitats. This will lead to different evolutionary histories depending on environmental factors. There is no exception with marine organisms, and flatfish in particular, and there is great variation among habitat types.

Echinoderms are currently at the forefront of the evolutionary biology field. Specifically, I will be contributing to this outbreak in new progress with collecting SEM imagery from the genus Clypeaster. This is all being done in the pursuit of analyze the pedicellariae of various specimens.

I hope to continue my research with expanding my database past the realms of flatfish to fish overall. Seeing a common trend would add depth to current research endeavors and I hope to be apart of it.