Principal Investigator

Tim Higham

Ph.D.: University of California, Davis

Postdoc: Harvard University

Email: thigham@ucr.edu



Click HERE for Tim's CV

Click HERE for Tim's Google Scholar profile

Click HERE for Tim's ResearchGate profile

Graduate Students

Marina Vollin

Graduate Student (PhD)

Since September, 2019

Marina was an undergraduate at the University of California, Davis and worked as a herpetology curation intern and preparator


Marina is interested in anything and everything reptiles, but will be focusing on gecko tail autotomy and the ecological and biomechanical consequences of tail loss. She is particularly enthusiastic about museum science, specimen-based research, and public outreach.

Phil Sternes

Graduate Student (PhD)

Since September, 2019

Phil was a Master's Student at DePaul University in Dr. Kenshu Shimada's lab


Phil is interested in anything and everything shark related. His primary interest in sharks is the relationship between body form and swimming. He hopes to use this to research to understand the evolution of swimming in vertebrates. His previous research focused on the diversity of shark body morphology and its impact on shark ecology and evolution.

Seth Shirazi

Graduate Student (PhD)

Since September, 2021

Seth received his bachelor's at the University of Oregon where he studied biology with an emphasis in marine biology


Seth's primary interests include functional morphology, biomechanics, population genetics and behavioral ecology. At UC Riverside, he will be focusing on the genetics underlying biomechanical traits in freshwater and marine stickleback. He hopes to use this research to better understand the evolution of biomechanical traits.