Kiyang “Diki” Yangzom receives inaugural Finish Strong Honors Thesis Award for the College of Natural Sciences
Diki, a CHC student in the Biology Department, is performing her honor’s thesis in the lab of Craig Albertson. Working closely with postdoctoral fellow Dave Matthews, her research focuses on using high-speed filming and machine learning to quantify the movements of fish jaws during bouts of feeding. She is doing this in a hybrid genetic mapping population, with the ultimate goal of understanding the genetic underpinnings of skeletal form and function.
While most honors students in STEM research labs write a traditional scientific thesis during their senior year, Diki chose a different route. Inspired, in part, by HON391AH: ‘Comics as a way of thinking’, Diki’s thesis project will be focused on scientific communication and culminate in an art exhibit titled, “Between Jaws: An Evolutionary Tale of Craniofacial Diversity”. The interactive exhibit will be on display from April 28th to May 3rd in Studio Arts Building, room 130A. It will include 3D printed fish skulls that may be taken apart and reassembled by visitors, a looped video of fish feeding, and a comic that tells the story of a baby fish trying to make its way in the dynamic environment of Lake Malawi, Malawi Africa. Aside from Albertson and Matthews, PhD candidate Josh Medina (Irschick lab) is advising Diki during this final push.
In support of these efforts, Diki received $2500 from the Commonwealth Honors College through their new “Finish Strong” thesis award. Come see Diki and a different approach to an honors thesis, and learn more about fish heads, how they move, and why they are important!