Environmental Internship Program - 2023 Booklet

PROJECT TITLE
Seasonal Evolution of Fruit
Fly Competitive Ability
ORGANIZATION(S)
Levine Lab,
Department of Ecology
and Evolutionary Biology,
Princeton University
LOCATION(S)
Princeton, New Jersey
MENTOR(S)
Jonathan Levine,
J.N. Allison Professor in
Environmental Studies,
Professor of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology;
Jamie Leonard, Ph.D.
candidate, Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology
Mulin Huan ’26
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
I studied how fruit fly phenotypes such as heat
tolerance, starvation tolerance, chill coma
recovery and fecundity can rapidly evolve
over a few months and used experiments to
examine how these rapid evolutions affect their
competitive abilities. I set up a field experiment
site with fly cages and tents at the Princeton
University nursery but ran into several issues
when storms knocked down the tents and cages.
However, my adviser and I came up with ideas
to fix the problem. I also took part in making
food for all the flies and recording data during
the phenotyping of the flies. I learned many
techniques, especially skills involving collecting
and sampling flies from orchards and cages. As
a rising sophomore, this opportunity offered
me great insights including how to work safely
and efficiently in a university laboratory and
deal with unexpected challenges in the field.
Overall, I developed further confidence in my
aspired career as a researcher in ecology and
evolutionary biology.
BIODIVERSITY AND
CONSERVATION
* This internship is connected to the HMEI
Biodiversity Grand Challenges project, “The
Maintenance of Species Diversity through the Rapid
Evolution of Competitive Ability.”
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