Zachary Rodriguez earns his Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Biology
Call me Dr. Rodriguez
I successfully defended my Dissertation: EVOLUTION OF GREEN BLOOD IN NEW GUINEA LIZARDS: PHYLOGENOMICS, BIOGEOGRAPHY, AND COMPARATIVE GENOMICS.
My defense was public and recorded. Contact me if you would like to view it.
Dissertation Defense Flyer
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Since hardly anyone will read my dissertation, and fewer would read my acknowledgments, I decided to copy and paste them here.
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I have many people to thank for helping me complete this dissertation. First, I thank my advisor, Dr. Christopher Austin who has heavily invested in my intellectual development as well as this body of research. Chris trusted me to pursue my own research ideas and gave me the freedom to explore my own questions. He has displayed patience during the development and writing of my research projects. I would also like to thank my other committee members who have provided unending support, validation, and guidance: Dr. Maheshi Dassanayake, Dr. Jeremy Brown, and Dr. Sabrina Taylor. This dissertation would have not been possible without all of your combined reassurance and thoughtful feedback.
Many faculty mentors have been incredibly helpful to me by supporting my research and offering guidance: Dr. Robb Brumfield, Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty, Dr. Jake Esselstyn, Dr. Brant Faircloth, Dr. Michael Hellberg, Dr. Morgan Kelly, Dr. Laura Lagomarsino, Dr. Susan Perkins (American Museum of Natural History), Dr. Fred Sheldon, Dr. Gloria Thomas, and Dr. Cameron Thrash. The close-knit academic environment at LSU makes it a unique and supportive community which was instrumental in my success. I also want to thank my undergraduate research mentors who were instrumental in catalyzing my academic career: Dr. Todd Castoe (University of Texas at Arlington), Dr. James Schulte (Clarkson University), and Dr. Kenneth Wallace (Clarkson University). Thank you for your patience, your guidance, and for ushering me into research.
I am grateful to Tammie Jackson at the LSU Museum of Natural Science for her skillful administrative support and general advice. It was a joy entering your office and indulging in snacks, shared interests, and banter. I am also grateful to Chimene Boyd Williams for her administrative help in Life Sciences. I am grateful for Valerie Stampley who has coordinated hundreds of outreach opportunities at the Museum of Natural Science which fueled my passion for public outreach. You were one of the first people I met at LSU and immediately made me feel welcome. Several of my most cherished moments were the time spent driving to and participating in outreach events with you. I am grateful for Seth Parker for doing an outstanding job as a collections manager and herpetology buddy. I am forever indebted to Dr. Gloria Thomas and Dr. Zakiya Wilson-Kennedy for their extraordinary efforts to improve diversity and inclusion at LSU. You have both done an outstanding job at securing funds, implementing initiatives, and providing individual support for underrepresented graduate students. I am forever grateful for the opportunities you have provided for me.
A special thanks goes out to the amazing graduate students and postdocs within the Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural Science for their advice, support, and fulfilling camaraderie. I would like to thank several past and current graduate students: Matthew Brady, Celeste Lancos, Janet Mansaray, Eamon Corbett, Oscar Johnson, A.J. Turner, Rafael Marcondes, Scott Grimell, Dr. Cathy Newman, Pamela Hart, Diego Elias, Dr. Ryan Terrill, Jordan Coelho, Glaucia Del-Rio, Marco Rego, Jessie Salter, Anna Hiller, Spenser Babb Biernacki, Heru Handika, Dr. Bill Ludt, Dr. Alicia Parker, Gaby Ayad, Hollis Jones, Laymon Ball, Shelly Anderson, Clare Brown, Jackson Roberts, Andre Moncrieff, Dr. Caroline Judy, and Dr. Michael Harvey. I have had many fruitful discussions about all manners of research, herpetology, academia, and life. A huge acknowledgement for several LSUMNS and Biology postdocs over the years: Dr. Jessica Oswald-Terrill, Dr. Sara Ruane, Dr. Fernando Alda, Dr. Tom Giarla, Dr. Melissa DeBiasse, Dr. Carl Oliveros, Dr. Janet Buckner, Dr. Lyndon Coghill, and Dr. Carl Hutter, who gave me excellent advice and offered direction in all manners of research and academia. The extremely motivating and encouraging community made this work possible.
It has been a privilege to work in Papua New Guinea. First, thank you Dr. Austin for enabling this opportunity and Jackson Roberts for making an excellent adventure buddy. I thank the many villagers on whose land we conducted fieldwork, their hospitality, and hard work as dedicated field assistants. I also thank chief Didibu Iova and collaborator Bulisa Iova for their hard work throughout the entire expedition and for working out much of the logistics. We thank B. Wilmot from the PNG Department of Environment and Conservation for permit support and J. Animiato, and B. Iova from the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery for field assistance.
A huge thanks goes out to my non-academic support network. First, I owe my dearly departed parents for supporting me in my youth and encouraging my interests in science and nature. I am forever grateful for my brother, Alex Rodriguez, co-siblings, Kelly Rodriguez, Lorrie Turner, and Keith M Turner, and close family members, Lizmarie Rodriguez, Benjamin Rodriguez, Martha Turner, and Keith Turner, for their unending love and support. I could not have completed this work without my animal companion, Sombra, who has loved me unconditionally and provided limitless stress relief. Next, my boyfriend, Michael Polite who has been patient, understanding, and loving. Finally, all of my friends who have provided immeasurable social and emotional support: Dara Wilson, Daniel Catchpole, Owen Tang, Marlon Grigsby, Brittany Rodriguez, Irving Jimenez, Jahi Mackey, Roi Rogers, and Chasity Nuñez. I love you all and I couldn’t have done it without each of you.
During my time at LSU, I have received enormous professional and personal support from several people I would like to thank individually. Thank you first, Genevieve Mount, Vivien Chua, Dr. Jessica-Oswald Terrill, and Dr. Michael Henson for your unabating love, support, and encouragement throughout this process. Thank you, Jon Nations, Dr. Joanna Griffiths, Dr. Subir Shakya, Mark Swanson, Luis Santiago-Rosario, Janet Mansaray, and Rafael Marcondes for providing the strongest and most social academic family I could ask for. Thank you, Dr. Laura Lagomarsino, Dr. Morgan Kelly, Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty, and Dr. Michael Hellberg for your uplifting discussions and for providing guidance when I needed direction. Also, thank you Emilie Broussard. You were an amazing undergraduate researcher and a joy to mentor.
Lastly, I gratefully acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE-1247192 and LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate activity (HRD-1301957). This work was funded by the National Science Foundation grant DEB-1146033 to Dr. Susan Perkins and Dr. Christopher Austin. I’d also like to acknowledge several museums who provided loans: R. Brown (University of Kansas), S. Donnellan (South Australian Museum), J. McGuire (University of California, Berkeley), A. Resetar (Field Museum of Natural History), and J. Vindum (California Academy of Sciences).