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REBECCA VARNEY

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News        

Back from Antarctica

12/19/2020

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​No words will ever capture the beauty of this place, the challenges of 3 months at sea during COVID, or the sheer joy of science 24/7 surrounded by inspiring, enthusiastic ship-mates. I didn't make friends; I met family. It was absolutely life-changing, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Maybe after a nap, though!
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Chiton Genome Published

12/15/2020

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Do you need a chiton genome? OF COURSE YOU DO. 

Stoked to share that the chiton genome we sequenced, the first available from any Aculiferan mollusc, is published in GBE:

https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaa263

I'm really happy with how these analyses came together to tell us more about chitons, organismal iron use, and molluscan mineralization. Check it out! :-D
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Heterobranch Phylogeny Paper Accepted

11/26/2020

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Can mitochondrial genomes resolve the crazy molluscan clade Heterobranchia?

Well, no.

But they provide new evidence for some interesting relationships, and highlight some of the zany evolution of the clade! And there are incredibly colorful phylogenies.

​You can see the final version of our paper here while we finish proofing our proofs:

​https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-30542/v3

​
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I'm going to Antarctica!

9/23/2020

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Was I afraid to jinx things by posting this too soon? YEP.

But three COVID tests later, I am thrilled to say that together with Kevin, Emily, and Nick, I am aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer headed to Antarctica. ANTARCTICA. 

I won't be updating this much during the trip, as I won't have a lot of internet, but I am excited for the coming months. 

​


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Best Graduate Presentation for ASM at SICB

7/7/2020

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It was belated, which made it an even more unexpected surprise! The American Society of Microscopy awarded my poster on chiton radula physiology best student presentation! This is the science that best captured the feelings of discovery that motivate me, so I had a lot of fun conveying that excitement to others! We are working on the manuscript now, so stay tuned for more beautiful blue chiton teeth to come! 
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Preprint of Chiton Genome Manuscript

5/22/2020

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Check out the preprint of our manuscript describing the first-ever sequenced chiton genome!

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.19.102897v1

I am so excited to finally share all of the amazing iron-related discoveries we made, and looking forward to seeing what the data get used for in the future!
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Graduate Council Fellowship 2020/2021

4/15/2020

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As I move toward completing my PhD this coming year, I realized I forgot to share that I received a second Graduate Council Fellowship for the 2020-2021 academic year. This fellowship allows me to finish my research without a teaching commitment, and will hopefully allow a few extra projects to come to fruition this next year in addition to my PhD chapters. I am so thankful for the support UA has given me, and continues to offer all of its graduate students. Here's to the home stretch!
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Ralph L. Chermock Prize (and a second teaching award!)

4/3/2020

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COVID has certainly thrown a wrench in many plans, but I will still share that I received two awards at Honor's Day this year!

The Ralph L. Chermock Prize is named for Dr. Ralph Chermock, professor in Biology and director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History. It is presented to the most outstanding graduate student in systematics and ecology. I am honored to receive it, and grateful to my department for the financial support for research that comes with it!

I was also awarded a second Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Student award, this time for Fall 2019. As that is the first semester of student evaluations on record since I returned to teaching after my GCF, I am ecstatic to know that my hiatus from teaching to focus on research did not decrease my effectiveness as an instructor. It was certainly a joy to get back to sharing passion for science with my students.
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Meiofauna in Curacao

2/28/2020

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This past week I got to visit Curacao for the second time, this time to give a guest lecture on meiofauna to the University of Florida Invertebrate Biodiversity of Coral Reefs class! It was a bit of a trip giving a guest lecture to the professor who taught me Invert, Gustav Paulay! 
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The students were incredible! They jumped to their dishes of sand with determination, and found some great stuff. Highlight was an undergrad finding a Tubiluchus! I collected chitons, led a chiton dissection, and took members of the class night diving to see bioluminescent ostracods. It was hard to leave!
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SICB 2020

1/13/2020

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Back from SICB already! As always, SICB was a great week of amazing people doing amazing science. Highlights included a talk in which 3D glasses were put on cuttlefish, and the aplacophoran mini-symposium resulting from Meghan and Kevin giving back-to-back talks.

I presented both a talk on the chiton genome and a poster on chiton radular physiology... on the same day! Which means by 5:30pm on the 5th, I was functionally mute. Wonderful feedback from a supportive scientific community strengthened both projects. 

Now I'm back, eager to work toward publishing both, and really genuinely excited about what the future holds. 

Science is at its best a group of nerds trying to figure out this crazy world around us. Missing my SICB family already.


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