Integrative Biology Ph.D. Candidate - Oklahoma State University

Danielle (Dani) Kirsch

I earned a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Spanish in 2018 from Southeast Missouri State University. During my time as an undergrad, I spent a semester abroad in León, Spain studying Spanish. I started working as an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Jon Davenport's lab in the spring of my junior year. My research focused primarily on non-consumptive effects and resource competition in aquatic communities. I spent the summer after my junior year working with desert stream communities in Arizona and the following summer researching thermal effects on fish and amphibians in Tennessee and North Carolina.

​

I started at Oklahoma State University in the fall of 2018 in Dr. Barney Luttbeg's lab where I am currently finishing my Ph.D. I work primarily with the snail, Physa acuta, and a crayfish predator. My research focuses on how risk perception – based on information provided by chemical cues – impacts behavior, physiology, and reproduction in these snails.

​

In addition to my ecological work, I am also serving as a Graduate Research Assistant at the OSU Library where I help coordinate – and occasionally teach – workshop series that help introduce people to new technologies and workflows, learn programming basics, and get connected with experts across the university.