Matthew Powers

Lover of all things science and teaching.

After graduating in 2014 from Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida I taught in the public school system in Bay County, FL for 2 years at Northside Elementary, a Title I school in Panama City. I returned to graduate school to pursue my doctoral degree in biology at Auburn University in Alabama. Most of my work has involved carotenoid coloration in various species including brown and green Anole lizards and now in house finches and zebra finches.

I have recently been converted into a firm believer in the importance of mitochondrial and nuclear genome interactions thanks to the groundbreaking research and inspired guidance of Dr. Geoff Hill and his lab group at Auburn University. I am of the mindset that mitonuclear studies involving speciation and evolutionary history is paving a better understanding of how the world of eukaryotic organisms developed. Carotenoid studies may be my key to unlocking some of the mysteries surrounding that development.

October 2016