Chris Martinez (lab PI)

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biologyat UC Irvine. The focus of my lab is to understand evolutionary patterns and processes underlying morphological and functional diversity of fishes. If you are interested in joining the lab please contact me!

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Postdocs

Elizabeth Miller

I am broadly interested in explaining global biodiversity patterns from a macroevolutionary perspective. In the Martinez lab, I am working on the evolution of diversity in form and function of deep-sea fishes. You can contact me at: liz.miller@uci.edu  

Graduate Students

Emily Poulin (she/her)

I am a PhD student studying questions related to evolutionary ecomorphology. I am interested in how the form of structures relates to function, primarily in terms of feeding and defensive phenotypes. Currently, I am studying the morphological and biomechanical diversity of stingray spines in relation to different predators and habitat types. I am interested in incorporating 3D data, phylogenetic comparative methods, and natural history collections into my work.  

Nate Swanson

I am broadly interested in evolutionary patterns and diversity, especially in fishes. During my masters work I studied trait shifts in populations of Mexican Tetra in recently colonized cave environments, whether they mirrored those in long established cave populations, and the plasticity of those shifts. During my PhD research at UCI, I plan to examine broader macroevolutionary patterns in schooling behaviors and kinematic features associated with them. 

Undergraduates

Elias Emmanuel Zamora

I’m a 2nd year EEB undergraduate student at UCI. My current work in the lab consists of assisting in recording the feeding motions of cichlid fishes to determine similarities in the evolution of their jaw diversity using biomechanics. I plan to continue my studies in grad school where I wish to study the extreme defense physiology and aggressive predation behavior of deep sea, shallow water, and freshwater organisms (particularly fishes, echinoderms, and invertebrates). 

Nadia Pourshahmir

I’m a 2nd year Ecology and Evolutionary Biology undergraduate at UCI. My current work in the lab consists of examining cranial morphology of cichlids using 3D Slicer. I plan to continue my studies in graduate school, where I hope to explore comparative phylogenetics and paleontological reconstruction to research the evolution of marine and freshwater organisms.

Lab Alumni

Graduate Students

Ayọmikun Akinrinade (M.S.): Currently incoming PhD student at University of Washington Genome Sciences

Undergraduates

Rizelle Mae Mazon: Currently UG at UC Irvine