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Decoding Arthropod Biodiversity in Oklahoma: Integrating Collections, Citizen Science, and Field Research
This project investigates the distribution, diversity, and temporal dynamics of terrestrial arthropods across Oklahoma by integrating natural history collections, global biodiversity databases, and large-scale citizen science observations. Using data from the Sam Noble Museum, GBIF, and iNaturalist, the project compiles and analyzes historical and contemporary records to quantify biodiversity patterns, detect shifts in species distributions, and evaluate how human-driven environmental changes have reshaped arthropod communities. Field surveys provide new occurrence data that complement archival and digital sources, while targeted genetic and demographic analyses of selected taxa offer deeper insight into population structure and evolutionary responses to environmental pressures. Together, these components create a comprehensive research framework that advances understanding of Oklahoma’s rapidly changing ecosystems and supports future conservation and ecological planning.

Hidden Fathers: Tracing Sperm Pathways from Arthropod Ecology to Dolomedes Genomes
We are building a cross-taxonomic database to ask a simple but powerful question: what ecological and mechanistic factors determine who fathers the brood in arthropods? By compiling data on sperm-transfer mode, mating system, parental-care strategy and documented paternity outcomes for dozens of arthropods, the project aims to test whether mechanical pathways of fertilisation and patterns of post-copulatory investment predict shared versus skewed paternity. Field-synthesised insights will guide a focused laboratory study that uses genome-wide SNP markers to track paternity in Nearctic fishing spiders (Dolomedes spp.), where controlled mating trials will let us watch the process unfold in real time and link it back to our broad comparative framework.

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