My research interests live at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and genetics. One aspect of my research focuses on the ecological, evolutionary, and molecular origins of trait variation. Over the past several years, I have investigated the role of epigenetic variation in adaptive responses to environmental variation (i.e., within generation plasticity, trans-generation plasticity, natural selection). To investigate the stability of habitat-specific DNA methylation and adaptive trait variation in wild populations, I combine trans-generational experiments and next generation sequencing. To explore the role of epigenetic variation in different ecological and evolutionary scenarios, I use mathematical models and computer simulations. I have also used these theoretical approaches to study the epidemiological and evolutionary challenges of different transmissible vaccine designs.

My interest in research was originally inspired by the diversity in form and function found among invertebrate animals, as well as birds. I earned a B.S. in Biology from the College of William and Mary where I studied questions related to the ecology and development of juvenile green sea urchins with Dr. Jonathan Allen. Currently, I am a Ph.D. Candidate in School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University where I study evolutionary ecology and ecological epigenetics. My research focuses on the molecular processes that underlie trait variation and how eco-evolutionary processes shape that variation in populations. During my time at WSU, I have enjoyed serving as a TA for introductory biology, evolutionary biology, invertebrate biology, parasitology, and marine ecology courses.

The Stark Lab uses an integrative approach to explore how environmental factors affect the performance, behavior, and morphology of biological organisms. Specifically, we integrate laboratory and field-based methods rooted in biology, with analytical and theoretical methods from physics, chemistry, and material science. Most of our work is focused on using geckos, ants, and sea urchins to explore questions about the functional morphology of adhesion. Additional areas of interest include biomechanics of locomotion and the functional properties of biological materials. With the help of collaborators, we also help to develop and refine bio-inspired designs, and biomimetic practices and education.

2017-2020 Assistant Professor, Villanova University, PA

2014-2017 Postdoctoral Associate, University of Louisville, KY

2014 Ph. D. Integrated Bioscience, University of Akron, OH

2006 B. S. Animal Biology, University of California, Davis, CA

2005 ARAD. Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance, The Royal Academy of Dance, UK

2004 A. A. Associates Degree, Santa Rosa Junior College, CA

My PhD research focuses on the mitochondrial and systemic mechanisms involved in the regulation of the aerobic metabolism during fluctuating oxygen conditions and their role in hypoxia/reoxygenation tolerance of different bivalve species differing in hypoxia tolerance. I am interested in linking different biological levels of organisation, with special emphasis on molecular level and organismal levels using molecular assays and state-of the art in-vivo NMR/MRI studies.

My passion for marine biology endorsed me to accomplish my Bachelor in Biology at the University of Kiel, GER, and my Master in Marine Biology at the University of Bremen, GER, and NTNU, Trondheim, N. Since the start of my academic career, my projects have been closely linked to climate research by focusing on biogeochemical analysis of coral skeletons, biochemical mechanisms of anemone-algae symbiosis and on molecular stress responses of polar fish with regards to various environmental factors. My current PhD connects biochemical and molecular analysis of hypoxia and reoxygenation tolerance in mitochondria of marine bivalves and in-vivo NMR studies on whole organism level.

Most of my research revolves around how insects use their energy stores, and explore how selective pressures in seasonal environments shape their life history strategies. My current research attempts to find the costs of stress, and whether it is linked to rates of aging, using an integrative approach, from molecular, cellular and organismal level performance. However, I am also interested in ecophysiological patterns involving temperature and resource allocation, and do physiological models of energy use under varying environmental conditions. Part of my PhD research investigated a potential trade-off between survival and future reproduction under stochastic environments using modeling, and how resource allocation translates into seasonal fitness.

I received a BS in entomology from the University of Florida where I worked on low temperature physiology of insects. Then, I received a PhD from the University of California - Berkeley where I worked on overwintering energetics and ecophysiology modeling. Now I am a postdoctoral researcher at the North Dakota State University working on stress physiology and aging in a solitary bee.

Richelle is broadly interested in rapid adaptation to climate change, particularly with seasonal extremes and their effects on inter-individual variation in physiological plasticity. Her current research focuses on linking individual responses to environmental variation across levels of biological organization, using gene and protein expression data in the intertidal mussel Mytilus californianus.

Richelle completed her PhD in 2018 with Jonathon Stillman and Wayne Sousa at UC Berkeley and is currently a postdoctoral research associate with Wes Dowd at Washington State University working on climate change ecophysiology. In addition to her research, Richelle is passionate about public science education, working primarily with the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation as the chair of the Science Partnerships Committee.

My current research focuses on how the brain of the orb-weaving spider Uloborus diversus encodes and produces this remarkable sequence of stereotyped, yet flexible, behaviors that result in the intricate structure that is the spider's web. What are the 'rules' in the brain that govern the different web-building stages, and how are they modified by changes in the environment or in the internal state of the animal? I am using pharmacological, genetic, behavior tracking and modeling approaches to address these questions.

I am a neuroscientist interested in how animals sense and interact with their environment. I earned my PhD in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where I worked in the lab of Dr. Chris Potter on the neurogenetics of olfactory signaling in flies (Drosophila melanogaster) and mosquitoes (Anopheles coluzzii). I am currently a Postdoc in Biology in the lab of Dr. Andrew Gordus at Johns Hopkins University, working on the neural basis of spider web-building behavior. I am interested in incorporating modeling to understand both neural circuits in the brain and motor behaviors of the spider.

Our research focuses on biochemical adaptation of marine organisms to environmental stress, including temperature, osmotic, pH, and hypoxic stress. My research group is interested how food availability affects the stress proteome response through the signaling networks of sirtuins, NAD-depedent deacylase, which are key regulators of energy homeostasis and the oxidative stress response. While we focus on biochemical changes, we also aim to integrate across various levels of biological organization, including cells, organ (tissues), behavior and whole organism level.

1. APPOINTMENTS
Professor: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 2017-Present
Associate Professor: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 2011-2017
Assistant Professor: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 2005 – 2011
2. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Postdoctoral Researcher: Proteomics (Dr. Kültz), University of California, Davis, 2003 – 2005
Postdoctoral Researcher: Biochemical Adaptation (Dr. Somero), Stanford, 1999 –2003
3. EDUCATION
Ph.D.: Oregon State University, Corvallis, Zoology, 1999 (Dr. G. Somero)
MS, BS: University of Konstanz, Germany, Biology, 1995 (Dr. M. Simon)