For a pdf version of my cv, please email me at msecor@oxy.edu
Education University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (August 2022 - Present) Molecular Biology PhD Student Co-Advisors: Dr. Matt Dean at USC and Dr. Allison Shultz at NHMLA Dept. of Ornithology Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA (2018-2022) Bachelor of Arts, Major: Biology, Minor: History GPA 3.57
Awards & Fellowships Sarah H. Roberts '68 and the David H. Roberts '67 Annual Research Fellowship (Summer 2021) URC Summer Research Fellowship (Summer 2020) Occidental College Dean’s List (Fall 2020, Spring 2021) Geneva & Herbert Wangeman Scholarship (2020-2021) Richard and Frederica Welch Scholarship (2020-2021)
Research Experience Moore Lab of Zoology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA (January 2020 - Present) Undergraduate Researcher
DNA extraction from historic museum specimens and modern bird tissues
Measurements of phenotypic traits of Yellow Grosbeaks
Niche modeling in R using GIS data collected by remote sensing satellites
Symbiosis Lab, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA (June 2019 - December 2019) Undergraduate Researcher
Collected insects feeding on cyanogenic passionflower at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica and dissected their digestive tracts to isolate midgut regions
Amplified and sequenced 16s rRNA to determine symbiotic bacterial associations
Preheim Lab, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (Summer 2017, Summer 2019) Summer Intern, Visiting Undergraduate Researcher
Collected water samples and viral filtrates via boat and canoe from various strata in the Chesapeake Bay, as well as physiochemical measurements using a probe
Estimated bacterial and viral gene counts using qPCR
Shotgun metagenomic library preparation and sequencing to investigate bacterial diversity
16s rRNA gene amplicon library preparation and sequencing
Viral dilution incubation experiments
Peer Reviewed Publications Keith Arora-Williams, Christopher Holder, Maeve Secor, Hugh Ellis, Meng Xia, Anand Gnanadesikan, and Sarah P. Preheim. 2021. Abundant and persistent sulfide-oxidizing microbial populations are responsive to hypoxia in the Chesapeake Bay. In prep.
Non-Peer Reviewed Publications Maeve B. Secor and John B. McCormack. 2020. Niche divergence in the Yellow Grosbeak and Black-thighed Grosbeak species complex. Undergraduate Research Center. Los Angeles: Occidental College. Maeve B. Secor and Shana K. Goffredi. 2019. Microbial community structure of neotropical insects specialized with Passiflora. Undergraduate Research Center. Los Angeles: Occidental College.
Presentations 2021 American Ornithological Society Conference Recorded Presentation, Elevation and niche divergence in Mexican Yellow Grosbeaks 2021 SRP Conference, Occidental College Virtual Talk, Evolutionary Divergence in Yellow Grosbeaks in the Forests of Mexico 2020 SRP Conference, Occidental College Recorded Presentation, How's the Weather Up There? Elevation-driven Niche Divergence in a Bird Ranging from Mexico to Panama 2017 Maryland STEM Career Fair for Girls, Johns Hopkins University & The Bryn Mawr School for Girls Poster, Gathering metadata on microbial communities at different strata in the Chesapeake Bay
Research Skills Data Analytics: Stata, R Laboratory: Next Generation Sequencing of DNA/RNA, Qubit, Gel Electrophoresis, Phenol-Chloroform Extractions of Historic DNA, Modern Tissue DNA Extraction, DNA Shearing,Library Preparation, PCR, qPCR, epicPCR, Illumina MiSeq Museum: specimen preparation, specimen measurements using a wing ruler and digital calipers Field: Mist netting, collection of water samples using micron filters, insect wrangler
Languages English – Native French – Fluent Spanish – Beginner
Scientific Communication The Occidental News (2018-2020) Los Angeles, CA Staff Writer
Corporate and Foundation Relations, Office of Strategic Initiative Los Angeles, CA (2018-2020) Student Worker
Produced condensed summaries on academic departments and professors’ research
Creating a monthly newsletter of funding opportunities that was sent out to college faculty.
Proofread funding proposals to individual donors, foundations, and corporations.
Edited reports to demonstrate how the goals of funding efforts had been met by the college over time to ensure continued support from funding sources.
The Sierra Club (2018) Baltimore, MD Lobbyist
Lobbied for climate legislation at the Senate Offices in Washington, DC.
Energy Justice Network (2018)Baltimore, MD Canvasser
Canvassed in Baltimore to recruit low-income households for an incentivized recycling program aimed at reducing incinerator-bound waste