About
Me
Hey! I’m Mikayla, and I’m a biologist driven by curiosity about how animals adapt to a changing world. I grew up on Cape Cod, where fishing and boating first sparked my fascination with nature—long before I ever called it science.
My Path Into Science
I began my academic journey at Cape Cod Community College, where I participated in an internship program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
After earning my associate degree, I transferred to the University of Massachusetts Amherst and joined the Molecular Ecology & Conservation Lab as an undergraduate researcher in 2022. After completing my bachelor’s degree in Biology, I continued in the lab as manager for Dr. Lisa Komoroske, leading projects and supporting a diverse range of ecological and genomic research.
I’m now pursuing my Ph.D. in Organismal and Evolutionary Biology at UMass Amherst with Dr. Komoroske, where my research continues to explore how marine organisms respond and adapt to environmental change.
My Research
I study how life in the ocean adapts to change. My work combines genetics, physiology, and environmental data to uncover how temperature, oxygen, and other shifting conditions influence where marine species live, move, and survive. I’m especially interested in how movement, through local adaptation and migration, shapes resilience and sustainability in a rapidly changing ocean.
Outside the Lab
When I’m not knee-deep in data or saltwater, I’m usually experimenting in my other lab — the kitchen. Baking really is just lab work that smells better: refining protocols (recipes), running butter-to-flour ratio trials, and submitting results for peer review (a.k.a feeding friends). I even keep a Pastry Lab Notebook to record experiments, notes, and the occasional breakthrough. Outside the kitchen, I love going to the mountains to go exploring with my husband and our two dogs, Koji and Remus, who remind me daily to stay present, curious, and enjoy the process.