Azeem Rahman

M.S. Ecology, San Diego State University, Current
B.S. Biology, Minor in Archaeology, University of California Riverside, 2016

Contact: [email protected]
 
 
Throughout my undergrad, I was able to get experience in different aspects of life sciences through working in a variety of labs on campus. I experienced working with enzymes in a plant molecular research lab. The vast majority of my undergrad research interests later came from working in evolutionary biology labs. After completing field work in the Brazilian Atlantic coastal forests focused on the evolution of guppy reproductive methods, I completed my senior thesis in gecko kinematics, looking at how perch size affects lateral undulation. After graduation, I volunteered as a TA for a class at UCR that focused on identifying and understanding the evolutionary ecology of native vertebrate species.
 
I started my master’s at San Diego State in a lab that studied carbon flux. I spent my first field season working on a project in the Alaskan tundra measuring methane and carbon dioxide release from the permafrost with relation to shrubification.
 
I recently switched labs and am now focusing on restoration ecology, where I am co-advised by Dr. Nick Barber and Dr. Rebecca Lewison. My research is looking at how restoration techniques and management in North American tallgrass prairies can influence trophic niche changes. I am using stable isotopes to measure shifts in the diets of various species of ground beetles found in the Nachusa grasslands in northern Illinois.
 
My research goals include becoming involved in restoration ecology concerning large forests and reforestation efforts in developing countries. I also have great interests in marine mammal evolution, vertebrate phylogenetics, and ordering coffee.