Clarkson graduate student Nimanthi Abeyrathna, who is pursuing her doctoral degree in the Biology Department’s Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Biotechnology (IBB) program, was recently awarded an Early Career Research Award from the Malacological Society of London (MSL), a molluscan research society based in the United Kingdom. Her proposal entitled ‘Genetic characterization of parasites in the invasive snail Cipangopaludina chinensis in the US’ seeks to document the parasitic fauna of an exotic snail for the first time in its North American invasive range using DNA barcoding techniques. The project is a small part of her larger dissertation which aims to understand the invasion dynamics of exotic aquatic snails in the New York Great Lakes Basin.
The MSL’s Early Career Research Grants are conferred on students and researchers without regard to nationality and are assessed on scientific merit, value of the project and the extent to which the research will benefit the applicant’s scientific aspirations. Once completed, the study is featured in the society’s newsletter The Malacologist and researchers are encouraged to present their results at the annual Molluscan Forum held in the United Kingdom.
Nimanthi is a graduate student in Professor Andrew Davinack’s Lab and a Teaching Assistant for both Introductory Biology and Anatomy and Physiology labs in the Biology Department.
https://www.clarkson.edu/news/clarkson-biology-graduate-student-wins-international-research-award