Serena
From BiodivBorneo09
Hi everyone! I'm Serena Zhao, a student at Harvard College class of 2012, from the lovely Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Research interests Although and/or since I'm just starting out, I have way too many interests to pin down and pursue: cladistics and phylogenetics, echinoderms in general, and mutualisms, just to name a few. My hope is to do research to serve conservation efforts, but my interests also tend toward the less-than-practical(: L2 acquisition/learning and prosody of L2 and register).
Personal tidbits Most of my time outside of class is spent in rehearsal, primarily for the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, where I play viola and copy innumerable pages of sheet music. I can also be found running around campus doing work for the Office for Sustainability as an intern. Aside from biology, music, and eating local squash with my Environmental Action Committee runcible spife, the love of my life is swing dance (feel free to contact me for lindy hop and charleston jams!).
Focal Taxon
Projects
Lambir: Pitcher plants
Gaya: Sea Cucumbers
Maliau: Arthropod composition
Course Highlights
Some moments when I was most a-twittering with excitement:
| Brittle Star, Crown-of-Thorns Place: Sapi reef and reef at Gaya island, respectively Substrate: at base of branching coral, on branching coral Behaviour: fluttering about furtively, munching | |
| Celery Pine Place: Mt. Kinabalu, forest at base camp elevation Notes: needles visible at edges of leaves (well, edges of needles) | 
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| Giant Blue Earthworm Place: Mt. Kinabalu, on the trail from Laban Rata to Paka cave Behaviour: undulating above and through the leaf litter | 
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| Strangler Figs Place: dipterocarp forest, everywhere Notes: the spirit and sustenance of the forest, with an irresistible call to climb and embrace | 
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