I officially enrolled in my PhD on the 12th of March. My project is investigating camouflage and colour variation in New Zealand stick insects.
I have spent the past couple of months out in the field looking for populations of different species of stick insect. I’ve also done field work to help out fellow lab members find their own insect species and help collect them.
On the 11th of April, the whole lab group went down to Whanganui to attend the annual conference of the New Zealand Entomological Society. There I presented my first ever conference talk (hopefully not the last!) about my honours project. I got some really good feedback, and it was a great opportunity to meet and discuss various topics and ideas with other entomologists.
The next couple of months will be focused on planning and trying out different protocols, and working on colour analysis and histology.
Here’s one of the beautiful beaches we went to while doing fieldwork in the north of New Zealand!
And Cape Reinga!
Morgane Merien 