Kirsten Isabel Verster
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University of California, Berkeley
Department of Integrative Biology
Office: 4095 Valley Life Sciences Building
Email: kiv [at] berkeley [dot] edu
Department of Integrative Biology
Office: 4095 Valley Life Sciences Building
Email: kiv [at] berkeley [dot] edu
Education
- B.S. Zoology, University of Florida. 2014.
- B.A. Spanish literature, University of Florida. 2014.
Background
I grew up in southern Miami, Florida, a humid and beautiful place whose drowsy alligators and friendly manatees helped me foster a special reverence for the natural world. I sought out a diverse set of research experiences as an undergraduate that have led me all over the United States - I've searched for spiders in the Puerto Rican rainforest, chased angry wasps in Michigan, and grappled with trout in a Wyoming fish hatchery in the pursuit of data. My honors thesis was a systematic revision of the Neotropical butterfly genus Tegosa with Dr. Keith Willmott from the Florida Museum of Natural History.
I am currently studying horizontal gene transfer of cytolethal distending toxin B in drosophilids in Berkeley. I'm particularly interested in the genetic and molecular basis of cool phenotypes, be it toxin production or toxin resistance. I love dancing salsa and bachata and hanging out with my doggy, Poochie. I also like collecting the rock plants Lithops spp. and air plants Tillandsia spp.
I am currently studying horizontal gene transfer of cytolethal distending toxin B in drosophilids in Berkeley. I'm particularly interested in the genetic and molecular basis of cool phenotypes, be it toxin production or toxin resistance. I love dancing salsa and bachata and hanging out with my doggy, Poochie. I also like collecting the rock plants Lithops spp. and air plants Tillandsia spp.
Research Interests
Behavior, coevolution (especially parasitism), genomics
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