Justley Sharp (’27). Justley is a biology major who joined the lab in Fall 2024. Justley’s current research interests involve chick age and food availability, and how this drives variation in chick corticosterone levels. Justley also performs routine work in the lab, including genetically sexing chicks by extracting DNA, performing PCR, and gel electrophoresis. Justley works with assays new to the lab to validate them for our purposes. In addition to research and academics at Bucknell, Justley throws the shot put and discus on Bucknell’s track and field team, where she competes as an NCAA Division 1 athlete.
Tyler McMasters (’27). Tyler McMasters is a Biology major who joined the lab in 2024. Tyler’s current research involves studying rapid changes in circulating levels of B-hydroxybutyrate and non-esterified fatty acids in young birds in response to stress. He is interested in how nutritional status and age modulate these rapid changes in chicks. He will be presenting his work at the national conference of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology in January 2027. In addition to research, Tyler has recently studied abroad on Semester at Sea and enjoys participating in theatre and dance on campus, as well as working at the Library Circulations desk.
Darlin Amaya (’28). Darlin is an Animal Behavior major who joined the lab in the fall of 2025. Darling spent the first semester focused on doing PCR and gels to genetically sex kittiwakes. Now she is f pursuing her own project coding behavior data from kittiwake chick videos to understand how prenatal and postnatal factors affect the development of aggressive behavior and its effects on siblicide. Outside of lab work , Darlin is a huge animal lover and future veterinarian who is currently co-raising a service dog, Slater (see bottom of page), on campus under the Susquehanna Service Dogs program and Bison Paws at Bucknell. She spent summer ’26 as an intern at the Houston Zoo.
William Harpster (’28) is a Biology major who joined the lab in the fall of 2026. William’s current research is on how various climate indices, such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), impact physiological markers in kittiwake chicks, using multiple years of data. Through analysis using the climwin R package he aims to investigate which time windows have the greatest effect on chick physiology. William also performs lab (DNA extraction, PCR and gel electrophoresis) to genetically sex chicks from their blood samples. In addition to his studies and lab work, William is a member of the Division 1 Bucknell Men’s Swim Team and a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant who hopes to attend medical school after college.
Slater Raspaldo-Amaya (‘27). Slater is a black labrador retriever being trained by Animal Behavior majors Darlin Amaya (‘28) and Ayden Raspaldo (‘28) as part of the Susquehanna Service Dog Organization. He joined the lab in Spring of 2026. Slater’s current project includes training to graduate from his basic training, and providing emotional support for the busy members of the Benowitz-Fredericks lab.