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Margaret W. Thairu
Education
B.S.: Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL - Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences With
Honors, 2010
M.S.: University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI – Masters of Science in Entomology, 2014
Ph. D.: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign- Doctor of Philosophy in Entomology,
expected: 2018
Professional Experience
Dr. Allison Hansen Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Entomology
Department
Teaching Assistant/ Graduate Student Assistant (Fall 2014-Present)
Dr. Johanne Brunet Laboratory, University of Wisconsin- Madison, Entomology Department
Graduate Student Assistant - Masters (Summer 2011-Spring 2014)
Dr. Kimberly Hughes Laboratory, Florida State University, Department of Biological
Sciences
Research Assistant (Summer 2010-Spring 2011)
Coding animal behavior, animal care, field collection.
Dr. Gavin Naylor Laboratory, Florida State University, Department of Biological Sciences
Research Assistant (Summer 2008):DNA extraction; Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR);
PCR purification; gel electrophoresis; PCR quantification; gel extractions; primer
design.
Honors Thesis Project: “The Molecular evolution of Parvalbumin in Elasmobranchii:
Determining the Exon/Intron Structure of the Gene”
Dr. Zuoxin Wang Laboratory, Florida State University, Department of Neuroscience
Research Assistant (Fall 2007- Spring 2008): Code behavioral videos; quantify cell
receptor density; prepare slides of vole brain sections; develop films.
Lisa Barrow ,Florida State University, Department of Biological Sciences
Volunteer field assistant: Chorus frog trapping, identification, and tissue sampling
Elise Gornish, Florida State University, Department of Biological Sciences,
Volunteer field assistant: Plant measurement and identification.
Teaching and Mentoring
Teaching: Introductory Biology 151 – Lab Teaching Assistant (Fall 2012)
Teaching: Animal Biology 102 - Lab Teaching Assistant (Fall 2014)
Teaching: Anatomy and Physiology 202 - Lab Teaching Assistant (Spring 2015)
Reader/Grader: Introductory Biology 151 (Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
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Mentoring: Mentored students for their Introductory Biology 152 independent project (Spring
2012, Spring 2014)
Publications:
Brunet J., Thairu M.W., Henss J.M., Link R.I and Kluever J. The effects of flower, floral
display and reward sizes on bumble bee foraging behavior when pollen is the reward and
plants are dichogamous- in review
Thairu, M.W., Brunet J. 2015, The role of pollinators in maintaining variation in flower color in
the Rocky Mountain columbine, Aquilegia coerulea. Annals of Botany,115(6):971-979
Fraser, B., Janowitz, I., Thairu, M., Travis J., and Hughes K., 2014, Phenotypic and genomic
plasticity of alternative male reproductive tactics in sailfin mollies, Proceedings of the
Royal Socity- B, 281:1471-2954.
Presentations/Posters
Thairu M. W., Brunet Johanne,(Fall 2013) Presentation: Pollinator preference and their
potential role in maintaining floral trait diversity. Presented at the Entomological Society
of America annual meeting, Austin, Texas
Brunet J., Zhao Y., Van Etten M., Thairu M.W., Pfeiffer V., Henss J., Clayton M., (Fall 2013 )
Modeling pollinator movements to predict transgene escape in insect-pollinated crops
Presented at the Entomological Society of America annual meeting, Austin, Texas
Thairu M. W., Brunet Johanne,(Fall 2012) Presentation: Pollinator preference and their
potential role in maintaining floral trait diversity. Presented at the Entomological Society
of America annual meeting, Knoxville Tennessee.
Thairu M. W., Ziobro R., Stewart C. ,Van Etten M. Brunet Johanne,(Summer 2012) Poster:
Pollinator preference and their potential role in maintaining floral trait diversity.
Presented at the Entomological Society of America- North central Branch Meeting
annual meeting, Lincoln Nebraska
Thairu M. W., Ziobro R., Stewart C. ,Van Etten M. Brunet Johanne,(Spring 2012, Fall 2013)
Poster: Pollinator preference and their potential role in maintaining floral trait diversity.
Presented at the Graduate Engineering Research Scholars and SciMed Graduate
Research Scholars annual poster session, Lincoln Nebraska
Thairu, M. W., (Spring 2010) Presentation: Determining the Structure of the Gene Parvalbumin
in Elasmobranchi, presented at the WIMSE Research Symposium, Florida State
University
Thairu, M.W., (Spring 2009) Molecular Evolution of Parvalbumin in Elasmobranchii presented
at the WIMSE Research Symposium, Florida State University
Gobrogge, K.L., Liu, Y., Mauk, K., Thairu, M., & Wang, Z.X. (November 2008). Anterior
Hypothalamic Vasopressin Mediates Amphetamine-Induced Aggression in Monogamous
Male Prairie Voles. Poster presented at the 2008 Society for Neuroscience, Washington,
District of Columbia.
Gobrogge, K.L., Liu, Y., Mauk, K., Thairu, M., Jia, X., & Wang, Z.X. (July 2008). Anterior
Hypothalamic Vasopressin Regulates Selective Aggression in Male Prairie Voles. Poster
presented at the 2008 Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Groningen,
Netherlands.
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Scientific Community Activity
UIUC- Department of Entomology (Current)
Entomology Graduate Student Association- Treasure
Entomological Society of America (Current)
Member
J.F.Crow Institute for the study of Evolution
Member of the Evolution Coordinating Committee and the Graduate Student Committee
UW. Department of Entomology
Entomology Graduate Student Association- Colloquium representative
Insect Ambassadors Volunteer
Society for the Study of Evolution
Member
Honors and Awards
Awarded Graduate Women In Science Ruth Dickie Scholarship ($2,800) Summer 2013.
Honorable Mention- NSF GRFP 2012
Biological Sciences Scholar Award- University of Wisconsin-Madison
Honors in the Major- Florida State University
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