Finishing one thing and onto the next

My last post was announcing my dissertation defense, and I have been silent since then. Well, I am happy to report that all went well and that I have successfully finished my PhD! Since that post I have tied up all of my loose ends at LSU, graduated, and moved away from the swamps of Louisiana. Finishing up at LSU came with a mixture of emotions, and I sincerely want to thank everyone at LSU who has been a friend, colleague, or mentor over the past six years. It has been a wonderful ride, and I hope to visit as soon, and as often, as I can. As always, geaux tigers.

What am I up to now? Well, it is with great pleasure that I can announce that I have officially started a postdoctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. This postdoc is one of a kind, as it was endowed by one of ichthyology's greats: Bruce Collette. I am the first Sara E. and Bruce B. Collette Postdoctoral Fellow in Systematic Ichthyology, and with this fantastic position I will shift the scope of my research for the next several years. My PhD and Master's degrees mainly focused on using molecular approaches to study biogeographic patterns in marine fishes. For my postdoc I plan to examine the morphological adaptations that allow for gliding in flying fishes. Flying fishes as part of the order Beloniformes, which is an order that Bruce personally knows well and has worked on consistently for decades. I am extremely fortunate enough to be able to work with both Bruce, and my postdoctoral advisor, Carole Baldwin, on this new project, and there is absolutely no better place to be than at the National Museum of Natural History. Look for more posts in the future about my progress with this work, and let the new work begin!