Back: Maria Pisciotta, Travis Stanitis and Mia Ruck. Front: Justley Sharp, (Piper), Tyler McMasters, (Huck) and Riley Cahill.
We had a lovely morning for our Spring semester brunch to celebrate our two seniors, Maria Pisciotta (Animal Behavior) and Mia Ruck (Animal Behavior). It was also the first lab event for our newest member, Riley Cahill (Biology, ’27). Everyone got a little dog therapy with Piper and the newest lab dog, Huck.
Maria Pisciotta also gave a successful defense of her honors thesis, based on work she conducted last summer on Middleton with the kittiwakes. She compared environmental, physiological and behavioral contributors to siblicide in kittiwake chicks after engaging in months of field work in Alaska, coding MANY hours of video footage, and teaching herself a whole lotta R. She gave a fantastic talk and impressed her committee in the follow-up conversation. Congrats, Maria!