KATIE CLARE

Katie is a PhD Candidate that started in the Rudman lab in 2021. Her interests largely involve integrating genomic tools and experimental systems to explore the relationship between plasticity and evolutionary change. Before starting at WSU, she completed a BSc at Saginaw Valley State University and then an MSc at Texas Christian University under Dr. Matthew Hale. Her MSc research centered around using comparative genomic methods to study the genetic control of migratory behavior in natural populations of rainbow trout.

Katie is especially interested in developing and utilizing methods to reliably predict contemporary evolutionary change using Drosophila melanogaster in our outdoor expeirmental system. Within that scope, her thesis projects focus on the influence of the changing environment and the role of phenotypic plasticity on evolutionary outcomes. Katie's interests are both experimental and computational, and often integrate laboratory and outdoor environments, multiple levels of biological organization, as well as different organismal life stages. Outside of research, Katie really enjoys teaching and student outreach. In addition to her research and TA assignments, Katie is the President of the graduate student organization at WSUV, and holds a position as a preceptor in the Office of Research and Graduate Education at WSUV. She is passionate about inclusion and accessibility in the scientific community, and uses these platforms to find and develop better ways to teach and communicate science.

email: catherine.clare[at]wsu.edu