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Contact
Email: scleigh19@gmail.com Lab/Office: 577 McCarthy Hall Mailing Address: California State University Fullerton Department of Biological Sciences 800 N. State College Blvd. Fullerton, CA 92831 Curriculum vitae: PDF Fieldwork Photographs: Gallery
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Welcome!
I am interested in how organisms acquire energy based on their specified feeding mechanisms and digestive strategies. My research uses a blend of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and modeling to answer biological questions about performance, mainly in marine animals. I also enjoy pairing my research with various outreach endeavors. News:
January 2020: I had a blast presenting at SICB this year! I spoke about some of my new microplastics work. I'll be teaching BIOL 310 - Human Physiology at CSUF this Spring. Stay tuned for more exciting publications (both from my PhD work and postdoc work) coming out in the next few months. 2019 Highlights: This year I had one publication in Biology Open and one more in revision (coming soon!). I also graduated with my PhD from UC Irvine, started a postdoc at CSUF, taught four new courses, won a Biomechanics Early Career Fellowship, presented at SICB, was invited to speak at multiple seminars, and more! 2018 Highlights: Another productive year! I won a Sigma Xi GIAR. I presented my research at SICB and APS, winning an award for my abstract at APS and an award for "Best Talk" talk at SICB. I completed the Pedagogical Fellows Program. I published a chapter of my dissertation on seagrass-eating bonnethead sharks in Proceedings of the Royal Society B and it received a ton of press! I co-organized the first UCI Climate Solutions Summit. I became a writer for the NPR radio show the Loh Down on Science. I accompanied UCI Vice Provost Dr. Frances Leslie to Sacramento for Grad Research Advocacy Day where I met with legislators to advocate for UC graduate programs. I also debuted my first sci-art piece at Art in the Park. On to even more amazing things in 2019! 2017 Highlights: A great year! I advanced to PhD candidacy, I had one paper published in Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries and another one published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology B, I presented at four conferences and won "best talk" awards at two of them (SICB, AES, ESA, and SWOB), I was awarded four major fellowships (UCI OCEANS, UCI Newkirk, UCI Distinguished Public Impact Fellowship, UCI Microbiome Initiative Pilot Project Award), I completed my internship with NOAA through the UCI Climate Action Training Program, and I became more active in science communication (Brews and Brains, SciComm Monday, Gills Club). 2016 Highlights: I was honored to be awarded an NSF GRFP, as well as a YEG from National Geographic, a GIAR from the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, the Raney Grant Award from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, and a GIAR from Sigma Xi. I was also fortunate enough to participate in the Friday Harbor Labs Fish Functional Morphology course and be accepted to the 2017 UCI Climate Action Training Program. 2015 Highlights: Watch me and three young scientists explore the California coast in the SciGirls episode "Terrific Pacific" on PBS! The full episode is now available online here.
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