Alyssa Bangerter

Alyssa is pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Biology at the University of Virginia. Her dissertation research focuses on how rapid adaptation to seasonal change in the fruit fly leads to a long-term maintenance of genetic variation. Using wild flies collected over three years from a local fruit orchard, Carter Mountain, she is investigating how rapid changes in the DNA of fruit flies are tied to environmental factors like temperature. Alyssa plans to graduate with her Ph.D. in the spring of 2021 before pursuing a career in the field of science policy.