Hey, I’m Mikayla. I’m an ecologist driven by a curiosity about how animals adapt to environmental change. I grew up on Cape Cod, where fishing and boating first sparked my fascination with nature, long before I ever called it science.
About Me
Ecologist studying how organisms adapt to a changing world.
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.
I am now pursuing my PhD in Organismal and Evolutionary Biology at UMass Amherst, where my research focuses on how marine organisms respond and adapt to environmental change.
My Research
I study how life in the ocean adapts to change by integrating genetics, behavior, and environmental data to understand how shifting conditions influence where species live and persist.
Outside the Lab
When I’m not working with data or in the field, I’m usually experimenting in the kitchen. Baking is just lab work that smells better. Outside the kitchen, I spend time in the mountains with my husband and our two dogs, Koji and Remus.