If there’s one thing 2020 has taught us, it’s that change is inevitable, and this blog is no exception.
With a great deal of pride and gratitude, we say goodbye to Jenny Bortoluzzi and Floriane O’Keeffe – our 2019/2020 editors. They did a fantastic job managing the blog last year, a year that saw the end of an era with the retirement of the Zoology department’s own John Rochford, and research highlights and experience from far-flung places around the world (including Portugal, Indonesia, the Galapagos Islands, and New Zealand). We wish Jenny and Floriane the best of luck with their continued research and hope they’ll keep us updated with exciting new blog posts in the months to come.
But this post isn’t just about fond farewells. We are also delighted to introduce to you… ourselves! – Erika Soldi and Sam Preston – as the new editorial team for 2020/2021! We’re very excited to bring you the latest research, ideas, opinions, and advice from Trinity’s EcoEvo contributors and to keep making this blog a centre of science and innovation.
To get us started and ease you into the year ahead, here’s a little about each of us:
Erika Soldi
I am Erika Soldi and I am the owner of the loud Italian voice that you probably hear passing by the Botany Department.
I work as Research Assistant in Trinity College since 2018 under the supervision of Prof. Trevor Hodkinson and Dr. Brian Murphy. My first research was focused on endophytes and crops for the e-Seed project, during which I experimented with all kind of crops you can imagine. Currently, I’m working on a collaborative project on ash dieback disease, called Nexcelsior, between Trinity College Dublin and AFBI (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute based in Northern Ireland).
My background is in Biotechnology specialized in Agri-food Science. In my life before Trinity, I worked at the Centre for Marine Bio-Innovation, UNSW, Sydney, where I studied the bacterial community in association with seaweed.
Yes, if you are wondering… I did move from Sydney to Dublin mainly for the weather, even though I am still getting used to the rain.
Sam Preston
I’m Sam and I also moved to Dublin for the weather (it’s slightly drier than the west of Ireland where I’m from).
I’m a Trinity veteran, having studied Zoology and completed my MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation here. I am a second-year PhD student in The Marples Lab (in the Zoology Department) studying animal behaviour. In particular, I’m studying dietary conservatism – a kind of fussy eating where animals have a persistent, strong preference for familiar foods.
I use three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) as my model animal, so most of my days (apart from during the lockdown!) are spent in an aquarium feeding fish different coloured foods. When I’m not doing that I’m also interested in birds and their behaviour (hopefully I’ll get a chance to work with some before my research is done).
With the formal introductions made, we’re off to source some new posts for you! If you haven’t already, don’t forget to bookmark this page, like EcoEvo on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter so you can keep up to date.