Tabitha McFarland
M.S. Student
Year entered program: 2021
Department: Biology
Mentor: Joe Cook, Ph.D.
Interests: Evolutionary BiologyTabitha McFarland holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences with a concentration in ecology, evolution, and organismal biology and minored in geological sciences. As an undergraduate student, McFarland participated in student research. She tracked the nesting patterns in the mountain bluebird Sialia currucoides and ash-throated flycatcher Myiarchus cinerascens 2016-2017. McFarland went on to study small mammals and worked on predicting variables stress in the American pika Ochotona princeps. She also volunteered at the Pueblo Raptor Center in Pueblo, Colorado, and the Dinosaur Journey Museum in Fruita, Colorado.
McFarland is a first-year M.S. student in Distinguished Professor Joe Cook's lab at the University of New Mexico. While pursuing her M.S. she will be transitioning into studying small mammal evolutionary history and phylogeography. Specifically, McFarland will be studying the population genomics and phylogeography of the yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse (Phyllotis xanthopygus) to better understand hypoxia's adaptations across elevation in the Andes.
Department: Biology
Mentor: Joe Cook, Ph.D.
Interests: Evolutionary Biology
Bio
McFarland is a first-year M.S. student in Distinguished Professor Joe Cook's lab at the University of New Mexico. While pursuing her M.S. she will be transitioning into studying small mammal evolutionary history and phylogeography. Specifically, McFarland will be studying the population genomics and phylogeography of the yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse (Phyllotis xanthopygus) to better understand hypoxia's adaptations across elevation in the Andes.
