Breadcrumb
Hays, Delson
Graduate Student
I am a Ph.D. student in the Arcila/Betancur fish evolution lab at Scripps. I have always been very interested in ichthyology, particularly the evolution and systematics of fishes, which led me to earn two B.Sc. degrees from the University of California, Santa Cruz (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; and Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology). As an undergraduate, I studied physiological adaptations in moray eels (Muraenidae) through my home department, and also examined bacterial symbiosis and host specificity in a clade of shallow-water bioluminescent fish (Apogonidae, genus Siphamia) through an NSF-sponsored REU. My principal research interests lie in the phylogenetics, systematics, and physiology of fishes, particularly in the context of the deep ocean and its many roles in fish evolution. While I am especially captivated by deep-sea and coldwater marine fish, I am eager to fill in the many, many unknowns of ichthyology and fish systematics!