I received my Bachelors of Science in Biology, with a focus on Organismal Biology, from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, where I  wrote my senior thesis, “Is Hybridization a Valid Form of Speciation in Birds?” I then went on to get my MS in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a project QTL mapping genes possibly responsible for the evolution of eusociality in Honeybees (Apis mellifera). After graduating, I worked as a Research Technician at UNC-Greensboro and Duke University on various projects: (1) establishing a linkage map for D. ananassae, (2) characterizing markers for paternity testing in Purple Martins (Progene subis subis), (3) mapping sterility factors between in D. pseudoobscura and D. persimillis, and (4) looking at geographic selection in the sHsp complex in D. pseudoobscur. I then joined the Uy lab as a PhD student in August 2012. The ultimate aim of my doctoral research is to incorporate my extensive genetics background and my interest in speciation and conservation; specifically, it will focus on speciation (genetic and behavioral) dynamics in Volcano Hummingbirds of Costa Rica.

Personal website -- http://alliemgraham.weebly.com/

Upon receiving a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, I worked for several years as a research analyst at a consulting firm in Cambridge, MA specializing in environmental economics and public policy.  During a three month sabbatical in the Neotropics, I became fascinated by the evolutionary causes of biodiversity, inspiring me to undergo a career switch in 2005 from a life in a climate-controlled office to that of a field biologist.  Since then, I have travelled around the world, conducting research on the population demography of Swainson's Warblers in the Mississippi Delta, breeding behavior of fairy-wrens in Western Australia, sexual selection among Phylloscopus warblers in the Indian Himalayas, population dynamics of song sparrows in Canada, breeding ecology of Amazona parrots and Aratinga parakeets in Argentina, conservation of harpy eagles in Panama, and metapopulation dynamics of Scottish water voles. Most recently, I joined the Uy lab as a PhD student in Aug 2011 where I am excited to begin work on a dissertation examining the evolutionary mechanisms of speciation using a tropical avian study system. 

As a kid, I spent 11 years living in Guam and the Philippines and consequently became addicted to tropical and Old World birds. I got my undergraduate education at Pacific Union College in northern California, graduating with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in mathematics. While in California, I spent most of my free time studying waterbird ecology, although I also worked on topics as varied as human-bird interactions and hybridization in Butorides herons. Having had enough of the cold, temperate California climate, in August 2012 I joined the Uy lab at the University of Miami with the hope of returning to Asia/Oceania to study avian speciation.

Bio coming soon

I was born in San José, Costa Rica where I obtained a B.S. and M.Sc in biology focusing on behavioral ecology of insects. I then relocated to the US to complete my doctoral studies on the evolution of animal societies and social behavior at UM. My research is centered on understanding the relationship between brain development and sociality in animals: How do social animals process information from their environment to make decisions that enhance their survival and reproductive success? In animal societies where group members are constantly interacting, how do these interactions shape brain architecture and function?

I am currently collaborating with the Uy lab in several projects, including: 1) understanding  context-dependent colony formation and alternative reproductive tactics of females in primitively eusocial wasps, 2) characterizing the insect diversity across islands to estimate resource abundance in the diet of Monarcha castaneiventris flycatchers in the Solomon Islands, and 3) exploring the underlying nano-structure basis of convergent plumage color in Monarcha flycatchers.