Splash Biography

INGA CONTI-JERPE, UC Berkeley Postdoc studying nutritional symbioses

Major: Integrative Biology & MVZ

College/Employer: UC Berkeley

Year of Graduation: Not available.

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I am a marine ecologist interested in how species interactions influence the biodiversity of ecosystems. My current project takes my experience investigating the nutritional symbiosis between coral and algae and expands it into other symbiotic marine invertebrates, vascular plants associated with mycorrhizal fungi, and lichens. I will also investigate the genetic underpinnings of syntrophic relationships in the flexible symbioses of the grey alder. Outside of the lab, I enjoy eating exciting foods, traveling, and spending time in nature – especially in or on the water.

Past Classes

(Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

M1003: Data Visualization with R in Splash Fall 2022 (Oct. 29, 2022)

We live in the information age - a period saturated with data that can be difficult to untangle. How can we use this abundance of data to understand our world? What are the best practices for presenting data so it can be easily understood and interpreted? Students in this course will learn the basics of data visualization and get hands-on experience creating their own graphs using the open source R programming language. If possible, students should bring a laptop with R and RStudio (both free and open source) to the class.

S906: Animal toxins in natural history museums: the good, the bad, and the ugly in Splash Spring 2022 (Apr. 16 - Oct. 29, 2022)

Legend holds that, in the 1950s, three men were found dead at a campsite. There were no wounds. And no weapons. The killer? A poisonous California newt which had fallen into their coffee pot. In this 2-hour course we will teach you about some of the powerful poisons and terrifying toxins found in animals, and you will get the chance to see preserved museum specimens of toxic toads, poison frogs, venomous snakes, newts, monarch butterflies, and many more! Our research group is part of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and studies animal toxins. Museums are important places for research, and UC Berkeley has multiple natural history museums containing millions of specimens from all parts of the world. This course will also introduce you to natural history museums and the ways that biologists utilize these institutions.