Hello, I am Daniel Martinez, and I am a senior Geology and Conservation Biology student at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. My interests cover paleontology, evolutionary biology, and marine biology with a focus on how intraspecies and interspecies interactions can cause evolutionary changes. During my time at the University of Mary Washington, I took advantage of some amazing opportunities to do conservation work through the university’s study abroad programs, specifically a trip to Bonaire, in the Caribbean Netherlands, to restore the coral reefs and one to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, to aid in reforestation. I have also had the opportunity to gain research experience studying adaptive phenotypic plasticity in margin madtom catfish. My current research project aims to find the effect that two closely related generalists have on one another when coexisting. After I graduate, I hope to go on to graduate school to get a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology, paleontology, or marine biology.
