The Entomologist Who Almost Wasn’t
The Entomologist Who Almost Wasn’t: A Tale on the Importance of Inclusive K-12 Education
February 23, 2024 The Entomology Profession
Abigail (Abbey) M. Hayes, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Alan Bergland, Ph.D., at the University of Virginia, where they started in 2023. Hayes is working to understand the phenotypic contributions of a chromosomal inversion that is under selection on seasonal and latitudinal scales in Drosophila flies. From 2021 to 2023, Hayes was a National Science Foundation postdoctoral research fellow in biology at the University of Connecticut in the lab of Elizabeth Jockusch, Ph.D. There, Hayes’ research used RNA interference (RNAi) and transcriptomic approaches to understand the evolution of wings in non-model systems. Hayes also co-instructed a four-semester experiential course for undergraduate students from historically excluded groups in STEM.