About her PhD project

Embryonic development within a species shows high reproducibility and generally follows consistent patterns. However, development is not entirely rigid and allows for variability between individuals. The aim of my project is to measure the developmental variability in Parhyale hawaiensis in order to understand how this system maintains such reproducibility. Parhyale hawaiensis has been chosen as a model system due to several advantages, including its transparency, short life cycle, and ease of experimental manipulation, among others. In order to measure variability in this system, it is necessary to calculate an average embryo as a reference, which can then be used to compare individual embryos. Achieving this requires spatiotemporal registration of the embryos, aligning them both in space and over developmental time, so that corresponding structures can be accurately compared across individuals.