Sydney K. Decker
PhD Candidate, Ohio State University
Ongoing Projects
Species Boundary Morphometrics
As with genetic data, technological advances have changed how we analyze morphology in our study systems. I am interested in comparing different methods of morphology analysis at the species boundary level using Yellow bat skulls. In collaboration with the Imageomics Institute, I am collecting high-resolution CT scans of bat skulls and developing AI architectures to understand morpholoigcal variation at the species boundary.
Systematics of Yellow Bats
I have been using molecular methods to research Yellow bats since my first year as an undergraduate student, starting by sequencing cytochrome b for the two lineages of Lasiurus intermedius. I am now using Next Gen Sequencing methods to assess evolutionary patterns and speciation in the Yellow bat group.
Predicting Phylogeographic Breaks
Identifying features of the landscape or species traits that influence population genetic structure is a primary goal in phylogeography. I use large-scale data in collaboration with the phylogatR project to estimate phylogeographic breaks in various taxa and build machine learning models to discover traits important to predicting phylogeographic breaks.
Legless Lizard CT Scanning
I am currently assisting an undergraduate researcher describe historical legless lizard specimens from CT scans. These specimens were collected during the Civil War in Ohio and are too fragile to be manipulated for morphological work. CT scanning whole specimens allowed us to characterize morpholoical traits without risking damage to the specimens.